


Lost in Space and Time

by YvaJ



Category: Doctor Who, Summer of My German Soldier - Bette Greene
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-02-09 09:38:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1978002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YvaJ/pseuds/YvaJ
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Several months after Anton Reiker's rumored death, Patty Bergen encounters a strange man with a blue police box.  With the help of Martha Jones and Ruth Hughes they share an amazing adventure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a brand new story, which I am hoping to make into a trilogy of stories with the characters of these two rather unlikely universes. The story of Patricia Bergen and Frederick Anton Reiker is one that I enjoyed as a child and Doctor Who is a show that I watched at around the same time I read the book. Putting them together may seem rather odd, but the work of the good Doctor seems to be compatable with just about any fandom. That is where this story was born from. Here's hoping you enjoy this one.

  
****

**Lost in Time and Space**  
A _Doctor Who / Summer of My German Soldier_  
crossover story  
By: YvaJ

**Chapter 1  
Jenkinsville, Arkansas 1945  
**

The war had finally ended, but the internal one, which raged in Patricia Ann Bergen’s heart continued without ceasing. She felt empty with no friends and no real family to speak of. All of this was a stressful burden for a girl with only thirteen years of experiences behind her. It had been over a year since she had sheltered and protected a young man who, like herself, understood the feelings of isolation, and rejection.

For much of her life, the Jewish girl had been told that the Germans were all enemies of her people.

Today, she held the most valued possession of this perceived enemy. It was a ring, a gift, from the man whom she had given her heart. She understood beyond any doubt what unconditional love truly meant. She had loved him, but to the world outside, this love meant nothing. The man was dead, and she was alone.

The sorrow accompanied her everywhere and reminded her daily of what it was like to contend with indescribable loss. Although the events had transpired a year ago, it often felt as though it had happened only yesterday.

Upon her return home from the ‘Jasper E Conrad Arkansas Reformatory for Girls’; Patty came to understand what loneliness and isolation truly meant. Both feelings dogged at her footsteps and had somehow consumed every aspect of her existence. She was now a shadow of the person she had once been.

To, Ruth Hughes, the woman who had become a surrogate mother to her, Patty had changed, but not for the better. Gone was her inquisitive nature and in its place a lost soul resided. Patty had grown rather accustomed to being called every nasty name in the book and she often heard these insults echoing in her consciousness long after they had been spoken.

The angry and hostile words followed her and it was for that reason alone that she had opted to spend the summer days alone. She had two options; exploring the wooded area behind her home or closed away in the rooms over the garage beyond their backyard. This would forever be a shrine known only as ‘Anton’s hideout’.

Gone were the days when her mother or father cared to ask her where she was going or what she was doing. As she had surmised, neither of them seemed to care or give any thoughts as to what their eldest child was up to. They were either too self-absorbed, or fawning over Sharon, Patty’s little sister. Whatever the case, they always managed to make themselves scarce whenever Patty came around. Today was no different. When she had crawled out of bed that morning, both of her parents were already gone.

Patty had decided to take advantage of the fact that the morning had dawned and the sun was peering out from between the otherwise gray and dismal colored clouds. To the teenager’s way of thinking, the sky looked far more strange than inviting.

As she was getting dressed, she cast several glances towards the window. She hoped that it would stay dry outside so that she could explore a new segment of land. This was a wooded area that was on the other side of a small pond that lie beyond the railroad tracks. It was also adjacent to the farm where the prisoner of war camp had once been housed in.

The act of having breakfast and heading out was the same as any other day. The new housekeeper was already busy when Patty came into the kitchen and seated herself at the table. That morning’s breakfast consisted of cooled down oatmeal, which she had long since grown accustomed to eating. While she was taking the first bites of it, she watched as the housekeeper rushed through the room and was muttering something about the dang rain getting her wash all wet.

Patty ignored this, but finished her breakfast in silence while thumbing through the pages of the _Memphis Commercial Appeal_.

Finishing, she got up and dropped her bowl into the sink and filled it with water before leaving. As she opened the back door, she abruptly felt a cool blast of air against her skin. It was not exactly a warm day, but it was not necessarily cold one either. The temperature was typical of the area of the country where she lived, at least during that time of day. First it would be cool, and then as the day progressed it would grow gradually warmer until it reached peak temperatures during mid-afternoon.

Patty concluded that this was how the weather would evolve that day as well. She closed the door and walked away from the house. She made her away across the small garden towards the back side of the property. During the war, her family had maintained the garden and used its offerings for extra food, but now, the rows were barren and it was left untended.

Passing the garage she stopped for a moment as another cold gust of wind blew against her. She glanced skyward and stared at the grayness of the clouds. _They were not the color of pea soup,_ she thought with relief. Usually pea soup colored clouds meant twisters, and that meant trouble.

Arkansas was not as known for tornados as Kansas, Iowa or Oklahoma were, but they still got their share of adverse weather conditions nonetheless. Today’s weather being the strangest she had experienced in a long while.

Figuring that it was nothing serious, Patty headed down to the railroad tracks. Upon crossing them, she made her way down a muddy path, which led to the small concealed pond. She would often sit along its edge and stare down into the water and watch as the ripples would dance across the glasslike surface. Sometimes she would even drop a small pebble into the water and stare at the impact it left.

As she reached the tracks, she stopped and looked down the path that led back into town before turning her head and staring for several seconds at the one, which led to Wynne City. Often she wondered what would happen if she were to jump on a passing train and bid Jenkinsville a hasty farewell. Of course, she never had the courage to try.

Leaning over, she picked up a small handful of rocks and began to place them on the metal part of the train tracks to see if they would vibrate or fall away because of the resonances of an oncoming train. They did not and so she allowed the remaining stones to slip from between her fingertips. As soon as they were gone, she wiped the remaining granules from her hands before stepping over the first of two pieces of metal.

Once she had cleared the tracks, she stopped and turned around before casting a glance back in the direction of the rail tracks as a lump unconsciously formed in her throat. Anton, she thought sadly as she wrung her hands together and could feel the grief-filled tears catching in her eyes. _Why did you have to die?_

Showing the extent of her grief was something that she only did when she was completely alone. She refused to cry in front of other people because she knew that the display of emotions would only result in being shunned or humiliated.

She sat down on the ground before raising her head and noticing that the sky had changed again, this time the clouds changed from gray to nearly black. No longer concerned about tornados, Patty figured that she should try and find some cover because it would eventually start raining.

Sighing, she got to her feet and started to walk back in the direction that she had come. It was now getting colder instead of warmer, but she knew that she did not want to return home. Instead, she decided to make her way back in the direction of the overpass.

There she would find some shelter from the pending rain shower.

As she walked, Patty could suddenly hear a strange grinding sound filling the air. Having never heard such a sound before, she turned back in the direction that she had come. A small tinge of blue suddenly appeared between two of the trees, but her attention shifted to the familiar sounds of a loud rickety truck as it barreled across the overpass. Shrugging off the notion that something out of the ordinary was happening, Patty continued to walk in the direction of the overpass as several drops of rain began to fall.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The Doctor took a deep breath as he typed in some calculations for their next trip. He had only been traveling with Martha Jones for a few days, but since he had sort of opened up to her the day before; he found himself sinking further and further into his contemplations.

The tall thin man in the pinstriped suit stood over what appeared to be a round control panel, which was in the center of a large coral and brown colored room. The walls consisted entirely of circles, which could have easily held light fixtures or decorations. It was not entirely clear what their purpose served, but he did not seem concerned with the state of his surroundings. Beneath his feet, the flooring was covered with metal-like grating.

On one side of the large room and at the end of a ramp was a white colored door, which could be opened from the inside.

Beyond that door was the vastness of time and space.

What appeared as a room was not a room at all. It was called the TARDIS and it was the Doctor’s sole means of transport.

He stepped towards some wavy treelike pillars and removed his overcoat before draping it casually at the base where two of the pillars met. On his face, he carried a frown, his brown eyes filled with a sense of sadness that transcended the fact that he hailed from a race of rather extraordinary beings.

He was the last of the Time Lords of Gallifrey. No one knew what his name really was; they just simply called him ‘Doctor’.

He sat down on the seat to the right of the console and stared aimlessly at the computer screen. He and Martha had just left New New York and were hovering in some undisclosed area of space. Martha had not offered up any ideas as to where they should be going next, and he was not quite certain if he should ask her. He was still contemplating the notion of taking her home. Of course, he knew that with her around, there was no way he could simply sit around brooding.

Standing up, he decided to simply let the TARDIS lead him to wherever it thought he might be needed. This was generally how he traveled anyway. He went over and after letting it randomly select a destination; he engaged the coordinates and the time machine did the rest.

Martha, who had been sitting quietly, finally raised her head when the sounds of the TARDIS’ motors had ceased with their grinding and whirring. “So, where are we, Doctor?”

“It appears as though we are back on earth, and have landed somewhere in Midwest of the United States. I’m not certain as to what year this is, but that never stopped me before.” He returned to the pillar where his jacket was draped, grabbed it, and hastily put it on.

Martha zipped up her red leather jacket before coming over to the door and waiting for him to open it.

The first thing they noticed upon stepping outside was that it was cold. Not cold like in the depths of winter, but it carried that sense that winter was about to break and spring was getting ready to start.

The weather aside, they looked around to see that the TARDIS had landed them in the middle of a group of trees.

“Well, wherever we are, it sure is green,” Martha said as she noticed that a muddy path extended from beyond the door of the TARDIS.

She waited as the Doctor stepped away from it and then she started to follow.

“Close the door,” the Doctor instructed and Martha nodded before reaching out and pulling it closed.

The sky overhead was becoming grayer by the minute as the clouds shifted across the horizon. A light, but exceedingly cold drizzle was falling, but nothing that would have deterred them from having a look around. Seconds later the breeze blew and the Doctor could feel his hair being ruffled by it. He stopped for a moment and listened as the sounds of birds could be heard in the distance.

“What is it?” She asked.

“Shh…” He placed his finger over his lips and continued to listen. “That’s strange.”

“What is?”

“It feels like winter, but the sky is full of birds,” he said.

“Maybe we’re in the south and they don’t migrate,” Martha responded.

“No, there’s something else,” he said. “Haven’t you noticed that since we’ve been out here it’s gotten colder? Even when our bodies become used to the temperature, it’s still gotten considerably cooler since we’ve stepped outside.”

“I’m no meteorologist, but temperatures do fluctuate.”

“That’s true, but not to that extent.” He ran his hand through his dark brown hair and continued along the path.

Moments later, he stopped upon hearing the sounds of cars and trucks on a distant street. He wondered fleetingly if the TARDIS had landed them near an interstate highway. Moments passed and the two of them emerged through a clearing and recognized that they had reached some railroad tracks that extended from east to west.

The Doctor looked out in the east, and saw what appeared to be a small town. In the west, the only thing that was visible was an overpass.

Deciding against going in that direction, he motioned back towards the town and Martha nodded. “It looks pretty deserted around here,” she commented.

“That’s what concerns me,” he said as he looked around.

“Why would the TARDIS bring us here if there’s nothing going on?” she asked.

This time, he opted not to respond to her inquiry but instead, quickened his pace as the rain began to fall in a steady rhythm.

“Oh great, the rain seems to be following us, this is just like New New York,” she mused.

“Only, the air is fresher here than there,” the Doctor said as they continued walking. Neither of them noticed that behind them someone was going in the opposite direction and heading towards the meager shelter that was provided by the overpass.

Moments later, they reached the train station. Climbing up to the platform, he went over to a small placard and began to read the timetable.

Welcome to Jenkinsville, Arkansas  
Population 1,163  
4 arrivals and departures daily:  
8:00, 3:30, 5:15 and 10:15

Enjoy your stay.  
(June 13, 1944)

“Oh great,” Martha mused upon reading the date.

“What?” the Doctor asked.

“We’re in rural America before the Civil Rights Movement. The people here are going to take one look at me and call out a lynch mob,” Martha grumbled.

“I don’t follow,” the Doctor said, all the while trying to remember the history of this particular country.

“For someone who travels freely in time and space, you don’t really know your history, do you?” she asked. When he shrugged his shoulders, she continued. “Doctor, if it is 1944, and we are in the southern part of the United States, then anything can happen. If someone here sees a black girl and a white guy walking around together as equals, as friends; well, let’s just say they may not take too kindly to our presence here.”

The Doctor turned and looked at her. “You’re truly a mystery, Martha Jones.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, you’re not all that concerned with getting kidnapped in New New York or dealing with witches and spells in Shakespeare’s time, but being dropped in the middle of rural America concerns you.”

“Maybe because in those instances I didn’t know what could happen, but here, I have a rather vivid notion,” she said.

In response to these words, he reached over and patted her shoulder. “Let’s just see what we can find out. This time I won’t ask you to go off on your own.”

Martha smiled weakly, but nodded. “Thanks…I think.”

Ignoring her words, the Doctor touched his chin lightly. “Now, if we could only figure out the exact date,” he mused.

“Why didn’t you just check when we were back at the TARDIS?” she asked.

“Sometimes she gets the information wrong,” he said as they left the train station and walked in the direction of the main square.

As they walked Martha spotted several men standing in front of a door leading into the ‘Bergen’s Department Store’. Passing the store and further down the street, several heads turned and she found herself subconsciously gripping the Doctor’s upper arm.

The Doctor discreetly patted his companion’s hand with his other hand and they continued walking, neither making eye contact nor approaching the locals. They looked around for something that might tell them the date, but all they came across was a large clock at the top of the bank building that read 9:48.

Both of them stopped walking when they suddenly heard the loud voices emerging from the group of men. Martha half expected them to start talking about her and the Doctor, but was surprised when the conversation appeared to be on something completely unrelated to their presence in town.

“I tell you, Sherriff Caldwell, this weather is getting really strange. The thermometer reads 46 degrees, but it’s the middle of June,” one of the men was saying.

“What will happen to my cotton field with this cold snap?” another man asked his voice laced with worry.

“Fellas, I don’t know what’s happening, but someone radioed in from Little Rock and reported that the temperature there was at 79 degrees,” the sheriff responded. “I don’t know why Jenkinsville is having this strange weather, but I aim to find out.”

“Maybe you should ask that Bergen girl,” one of the men remarked sourly.

“Oh come on Jerry, since when can a thirteen-year-old kid control the weather?” Sherriff Caldwell asked.

“I don’t know, Sheriff, but something’s wrong and I think that girl’s got a devil or something,” Jerry responded.

The Doctor took a deep breath and sighed. “It looks as though you aren’t the only one who should be concerned about gang mentality. A child appears to be the focus of a classic witch hunt. Maybe this Bergen girl is someone we should talk to.”

“Do you think she’d know?” Martha whispered.

“Well, the chances of her knowing something seem far more likely than that crowd,” he responded with a casual wave of his hand. “They mentioned the name ‘Bergen’ and maybe we should go to the ‘Bergen Department Store’ and try to talk to whoever might be in charge.”

“I wouldn’t recommend that, Honey.” A voice suddenly emerged and both the Doctor and Martha abruptly turned around.

When they did, Martha noticed that as they were talking, a heavyset black woman in her mid fifties had approached where they were standing. She was dressed in a floral print dress, and her hair was wrapped in a piece of off white colored fabric. She carried a hesitant, but friendly enough smile on her face. Martha knew this look; the woman was concerned when she had spotted her and the Doctor walking freely together through the marketplace.

“You young-ones lost?” she asked. When the Doctor looked at Martha and then back at the woman, she took this as in indication to continue speaking. “Yes, Honey, I’m talkin’ to you.”

He shook his head. “No.”

The woman nodded as she looked to Martha for confirmation.

“We’re not lost,” she eventually said, but try as she might, she could not get over the disbelief that lined the older woman’s face.

“Then you’re with the FBI, I reckon.”

“No, we’re not,” Martha affirmed.

“He ain’t got much a vocabulary, does he?” The woman mused looking at the Doctor, who remained silent.

For his part, the Doctor took a deep breath as he tried to think of something to say in response to the woman who had managed to catch him off guard. That was, in part, because of what Martha had said earlier when they had found out where and when they had landed. She mentioned the awkwardness with the white people, but she failed to mention that he might be left to feel awkward in such a situation as well.

Finally, instead of voicing this, he decided to respond to her honestly. “I was making note of what those men were saying about the weather changes,” he offered.

“Well, you don’t sound much like FBI, none of you do,” she said.

“There’s a very good reason for that,” he said. “We’re not with the FBI.”

“I’d reckon not,” she said with a nod of her head. “You talk quite a bit different than they do.”

“I’ve always believed that what people say should far outweigh how they say it,” the Doctor said openly.

The woman chuckled softly. “Point taken, but that ain’t exactly what I meant, Honey.”

“What did you mean, then?” he asked.

This time his direct question took the woman off guard and she raised one of her hands in negation. “Oh don’t you worry none about it. Ol’ Ruth’s just talking nonsense again.”

“Your name is Ruth?” Martha asked.

“Yes,” she responded.

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m Martha Jones.”

“I’m the Doctor.”

“The Doctor?” she asked. When he nodded she smiled. “Well, your folks must’ve had some sense of humor then. I always thought ‘Doctor’ was no proper name. But, then again what do I know?”

Martha smiled, but watched as the woman glanced skyward. The icy cold rain was now falling more steadily. “If it’s June here, does it normally rain like this? It feels remotely like it would in December back home.”

“I ain’t never felt such cold rain like this before, ‘specially not at this time of year,” Ruth said as she looked at the Doctor, who had retrieved some strange object from the inside pocket of his coat.

As the strange humming sounds filled her ears and a blue light seemed to be emerging from the tip of the object, she inhaled sharply and stared. Moments later, it stopped and he held the object as though reading one side of it. “This is strange,” he said as he returned it to the inside pocket of his jacket.

“What is it, Doctor?” Martha asked.

“There’s an alien reading here,” he said. “Something out of the ordinary is happening in this town.” He turned to see that Ruth was regarding them both through wide eyes.

“Alien?” Ruth managed to speak, before backing some steps away from them. “Now don’t you be tellin’ me that you’re Martians. You ain’t even got green skin.”

The Doctor took a deep breath. “We’re not Martians, but it would seem that our presence is needed here.”

“How can that be?” Ruth asked.

As her question filled the area, a chilling gust of wind blew against them and nearly knocked them all off their feet. In response to this, Ruth wrapped her arms around herself. She turned her head to see that the druggist’s temperature listing had flipped from 48 to 46 degrees.

“We need to get out of the cold before we catch our deaths,” Martha said.

Ruth motioned towards the Victory Café, which was next door to the department store. “It’s dry in there.”

“I’m afraid we don’t have money for tea,” the Doctor said apologetically.

“Well, I can’t leave you out here in the cold, you’ll likely get sick,” Ruth said. “We can take shelter at my house, but I warn you, I got neighbors nearby and they won’t take kindly to you roughin’ up on me.”

“We would never do that,” the Doctor said.

“I should hope not,” Ruth replied. “I can’t offer you no tea, but I can brew us up some nice hot coffee while we wait this one out.”

“Why would you offer that to people you don’t even know?” the Doctor asked curiously.

“Ask your friend,” Ruth said.

“I don’t follow,” the Doctor responded.

“Well, it ain’t been my experience that too many of my black sisters are friendly with a white boy. You remind me of someone is all; wise and caring, but a trifle odd,” she said with a smile as she started to lead them down the street.

Martha smirked as she began to follow Ruth. “Well, Doctor, I think it’s safe to say that she’s got you pegged.”

Instead of arguing otherwise, the Doctor nodded slightly and started to follow the two women down the street. As they walked, he noticed that several of the locals were still outside and had clearly changed the subject and were now whispering and pointing towards them.

Listening to their words, he noted that the name ‘Bergen’ had once again been dropped. The Doctor decided that he would have to ask Ruth about this when they arrived at their destination. For now, he simply took note that the rain was getting colder and starting to feel as though it was turning to sleet. If what those men back at the square were saying was true, he wondered how Jenkinsville could have such adverse weather conditions and how Little Rock could be thirty degrees warmer.

The Doctor cast a glance towards Martha and Ruth. The two women were walking alongside one another until they had reached the end of the sidewalk and had stepped off. From there, they made their way along the road’s muddied edge with Ruth in front, Martha following and him bringing up the rear. As he was falling behind, he realized that he had to quicken his pace in order to catch up. Once he did, he found himself standing in front of a small rickety looking house.

Just as Ruth had stated back in town, there were several similar style houses in the area. Although many of them looked to be deserted, the Doctor knew that if Ruth needed any assistance, her neighbors would be there to provide it. That was the general essence of the overall area.

The house itself was made entirely of wood and appeared to be in need of a paint job. The Doctor guessed that Ruth’s financial circumstances prevented it from happening. His gaze shifted from the overall place to the finite details of the house. The porch was small and cluttered with a table and two chairs just beneath one of the windows. Small potted plants stood on the windowsills where a group of daisies grew.

Ruth led him to the front porch and began to pull her key from the pocket of her dress. “It’s getting colder by the minute around here,” she mumbled as she tried to unlock the front door. When her hand trembled somewhat, the Doctor reached over with the intention of assisting her.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“I’m fine, nothing a little bit of coffee won’t fix,” she responded as she managed to open the door and lead them inside. “Come on in. I’ll go fetch some towels so you can dry off.”

She disappeared into a small room and within seconds had returned with two large towels in her hands. “Here you go. Just hang your coats on the back of the door. Dry off good or else you’ll get sick.”

The Doctor gratefully nodded as he took off his coat and hung it on the door. His suit was a little bit damp, but not dripping wet and he guessed that in time it would dry out.

For her part, Martha simply unzipped her leather jacket, but opted to leaving it on because she was still cold. She took the towel and pressed her face in it before rubbing it against the beaded water drops that covered the sleeves of her jacket.

As he watched her, the Doctor began to ruffle his towel in his unkempt hair.

Moments later, they could hear Ruth in the kitchen and so they followed the sounds of her voice until they entered a tiny room. Inside, a table and two chairs were placed.

“Have a seat; I’ll have coffee ready in no time. Don’t mind the stuff on the table, it belongs to my son. He got home from the war late last year and went straight into seminary. He’s here on weekends to work and so I just leave his stuff there. He does his momma so proud.”

As she babbled on nervously, she continued with what she was doing. After several moments she returned to the table, all the while bringing a small fold out chair with her. She folded it out and sat down. “Coffee’ll be ready in a minute.”

“Why are you doing this?” the Doctor asked curiously. He had long since finished toweling his hair and had draped it over the back of his chair.

“I don’t rightfully know,” she said truthfully. “You’re a strange pair, but I reckon Patty’d do the same.”

“Who’s Patty?” Martha asked.

“Didn’t you hear what those men were saying back in town ‘bout her?” Ruth asked.

“They didn’t say Patty; they said ‘the Bergen girl’,” the Doctor said.

“Same thing,” Ruth said sadly.

“Then Bergen is Patty’s surname, right?” Martha asked.

Ruth nodded.

“Where is she now?” the Doctor asked.

“I don’t rightfully know. She’s probably out in that weather somewhere. She wouldn’t be staying home on a summer day, that’s for sure,” the older woman said.

“I don’t understand why a bunch of grown men would be taking such an interest in a young girl like this,” the Doctor said. “The sheriff said she was only thirteen.”

“She is,” Ruth began, “but she ain’t no devil, she’s just a baby.”

“You don’t have to defend her to us. Martha and I only overheard them talking,” he said gently.

His companion nodded. “It sounded rather sad that grown men would be talking about a child like this. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Perhaps not,” the Doctor said. “I think that there’s far more going on around here than just petty gossip. We all know that there is no child on this, or any world, that can catalyze such an extreme change in climate in such a short span of time. I wonder what the weather was like before we arrived.”

“Earlier it was warm,” Ruth said. “Then it got cold and I can tell you that I ain’t never seen nothin’ like it before.”

“Have you heard anything that might give us a clue as to what is happening around here?” Martha asked.

“Nothing, I only knows that today is June 13, and it’s as cold outside as it was last Christmas,” she said. “Can you tell me why that is?”

“I don’t know,” he said truthfully. “At least not yet, but I intend to find out.”

“Well, I hope you can,” she said. “It’s strange that you come here today of all days, but my insides are telling me I can trust you. I don’t know why that is. I just figured that if you was a threat, then you’d have done something to me or to someone in town by now and you haven’t.”

“No, we haven’t,” the Doctor said as he cast a sideways glance towards Martha who was trying to conceal a smirk. “Although, I must admit that quite often I have been told otherwise.”

Martha responded with a giggle until the Doctor looked at her with feigned annoyance.

“I just knew that there was somethin’ I liked about you,” Ruth said. “I don’t know why that is, it’s just a feeling I get.”

“What else can you tell us about Patty?” the Doctor asked after some moments of silence had lapsed between them.

“She’s a good girl and the only one in that family who is,” Ruth said as she took a deep breath. “I used to clean house for ‘em and take care of the two kids. About a year ago something happened that changed everything.”

“What happened?” Martha asked.

“Well Patty’s always been a bit different than the rest of ‘em. She’s a lonely soul; spends much of her time in that garage just behind her folks’ house. It was there where she started a friendship with a German boy just after he escaped from the P.O.W. camp outside of town. She did something that no one ‘round here would ever do; protected him and gave him food. Then one day I was working in the kitchen and I sees her daddy giving her the belt and that boy comes out of hiding just to protect her. I confronted her about him later, askin’ who he was. She didn’t say his name at first; she just said ‘that man is my friend’. After a time, she tells me that I’m her friend and that Anton’s also her friend. I did what I could to help him, but no one else knew about that and she wasn’t gonna tell anyone.” She paused. “Oh Lord in Heaven; why am I telling you this?”

“Maybe because you know deep down inside that we would never betray your trust,” the Doctor said.

“Maybe, or I just needed to tell someone besides myself,” Ruth mused. “I guess it don’t matter anyhow because about six months after that, he was killed. Patty’s world just crashed in all around her and everyone found out about what she had done. It’s the curse of a small town.”

“Did anything happen to you because of it?” Martha asked.

“No, ‘cept losing my job, nothing changed,” Ruth said. “I wanted to help Patty, but there ain’t much an old black woman like me can do for a white girl in this day and age.”

The Doctor looked across the table at her. “What happened to her after that happened?”

“They sent her away, but then the whole town just turned on her. Adults were behaving like schoolyard bullies and their kids were following that example,” Ruth said as she got up and went over to retrieve the coffee pot as well as three cups. “There ain’t nothing worse than sitting here watching this stuff happening and not being able to do anything about it.”

Returning to the table, she poured some of the liquid into the cups. She then placed the pot to the counter before retrieving some cream and sugar from the cupboard.

Once she placed all these objects on the table, she sat back down. “Do you need a spoon?”

Martha shook her head. She had been so busy absorbing the story that she did not bother to add milk or sugar to her coffee.

“No thank you,” the Doctor said shaking his head, and took a sip from his cup before returning it to the table.

He watched as Ruth added two spoonfuls of sugar to her own cup and then took a sip, her elbow coming to rest on the table. “Sometimes, I can’t help but ask why all this had to happen. Now with the changes in weather and people blaming that poor child for it, I wonder if maybe she should just leave Jenkinsville and never come back. What does she really have left here?”

“She has you,” the Doctor said. “Given what you’ve told us, your presence may be the only thing that keeps her here.”

“She needs more than just me, Honey,” she said.

“Maybe, but you’re what she’s got,” Martha said. She reached across the table and touched Ruth’s hand. “That’s important.”

The Doctor nodded in agreement, but his thoughts seemed to be a mile away. Although he did not say so, he had the distinct impression that this story and the weather were somehow connected. He could not ascertain why that was the case, but he knew that in order to figure any of it out, he would have to meet and speak with Patty Bergen at length.

_Perhaps what I had initially assumed about Jenkinsville was not too far off,_ he thought as he quietly sipped his coffee. _If I thought this place was too boring for something earth-shattering to happen, then maybe someone out in the universe had been thinking the very same thing._

By this time, Ruth had lowered her cup and was looking at him meaningfully. “I told you a bit about me and Patty, so why don’t you both tell me your story?” she asked, her direct question bringing the Doctor out of his reverie.

He looked over at Martha who had slowly lowered her cup to the table as well.

“What makes you think that we have an interesting story to tell?” he asked.

Before she could offer a response to his question, someone began knocking at the front door and Ruth inhaled slowly before standing. “Would you excuse me?”

The Doctor nodded as she left the room and went to answer the door.

Instead of remaining seated, he got up from his chair and crept over to the doorway to listen in.

Martha stood up and followed his lead.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

When Ruth opened the door, she was surprised when she came face to face with Patty’s mother, Pearl. Given the other woman’s stance, Ruth knew that Mrs. Bergen was discreetly leaning to one side in order to see inside the house.

In response to this, Ruth merely shifted her weight and blocked the room from view. Because of her physical stature, she could do so rather unobtrusively. She knew that Pearl Bergen was, among other things, a notorious gossip. Ruth, herself, had often been subjected to the woman’s venom on more than one occasion.

On that particular morning, the older woman could almost guess what the reason behind this untimely visit was. Instead of pegging her for it straight off, she decided to use another tactic entirely.

“Hello, Ruth,” Pearl said, her voice edged in snobbish undertones.

“Miz Bergen,” Ruth responded with a semi-formal nod of the head. Instead of coming across angry or embittered, her voice was laced in innocence.

“Is Patricia Ann with you?” Pearl asked her voice direct.

“No ma’am, I ain’t seen her all day. Why?”

“Sheriff Caldwell came into the store this morning and said that he spotted a pair of strangers roaming around town,” she said. “He’s been informing everyone to be on their guard since they’re probably up to no good.”

“Maybe instead of concerning himself with visitors in Jenkinsville, the sheriff should be worried about this odd weather we’ve been having and why it is we’re in for an early Christmas,” Ruth said.

Pearl crossed her arms over her chest and regarded Ruth meaningfully. “Of course we’re all concerned, but the sheriff said that he saw you talking to them outsiders.”

“He may have, I talk to a lot of people,” Ruth said. “Ain’t no laws against it.”

“That may be so, but it would seem to me that you should be careful about who you choose to consort with,” Pearl said.

“No one ‘round here should worry about who I’m consortin’ with,” Ruth said firmly. “Now, is there any particular reason for your visit?”

“It’s like I said, I thought maybe Patricia Ann was here.”

“Well, she ain’t,” Ruth said. “But, I got a notion as to where she might have gone off to.”

“And where’s that?”

“I can’t rightfully say, it’s the only place she can go anymore to get away from all the nasty town gossip,” Ruth said pointedly. “I’ll check it out and tell her that her momma’s lookin’ for her and that she should head for home.”

“Oh don’t you go and trouble yourself now,” Pearl said hastily. “I only hope that she’s not gotten herself in anymore trouble. It could very well shed a negative light on her daddy and me. After everything she’s done, we certainly don’t need anymore bad publicity.” With that, she left without a ‘thank you’ or a ‘good-bye’.

Once she was gone, Ruth shook her head as the Doctor and Martha came out into the room. When she saw them entering, she looked at them, her eyebrows arching slightly. “And here I thought you wasn’t concerned with our local gossip.”

“The Doctor probably figured that your visitor might have known something that could help regarding the weather,” Martha said.

Ruth looked first at the Doctor and then at Martha. “You sir have got yourself one heck of a friend in this young lady.” When he did not respond, Ruth took the incentive. “I suppose I should get my shoes on and go out and see if I can find Patty.”

The Doctor took a deep breath. “Would you like for us to come along and help you look for her?”

“That’s awfully good of you,” Ruth said. “I’m guessing she went back to the pond. There are several paths that lead to it, and I can’t very well cover them all on my own. Maybe I can look down one and you can look down a couple of the others.”

“What does Patty look like?” the Doctor asked.

“Shorter than me, probably wearing shorts and a shirt, but like you, she’s skin and bones,” Ruth said.

Martha chuckled as the Doctor cringed.

Back inside the kitchen, Ruth retrieved her shoes and sat down to put them on.

“Don’t forget to grab a coat,” the Doctor advised. “It could get colder before it gets warmer out there.”

“That’s a good idea,” Ruth said before leaving her two visitors and going into the back of the house in order to retrieve her long winter coat.

When she returned to the living room, she watched as Martha zipped up her jacket and the Doctor retrieved his overcoat and they all left the house.

~~~~~

The rain had fallen steadily for over an hour and Patty sat underneath the overpass waiting for it to let up. During the time she sat there, her body shivered from the cold. _Maybe coming outside without a sweater had been a mistake,_ she thought. _This weather is getting worse and now it feels more and more like sleet instead of rain._ When it finally started to let up, she got to her feet and started to walk back along the tracks in the direction she had been going in when the rain had started.

Early on, she decided against returning home for the simple reason that she was not keen on getting into another confrontation with her mother. Because of the mentality of the locals, the teenager preferred staying away as opposed to going back.

For the life of her, she could not understand why she was concerned about the weather. A thirteen-year-old girl could do nothing to change it, yet she was pondering what the townspeople would assume about the freezing cold temperatures, which were an abnormality in the middle of summer.

She looked up and felt a strange tremor curse through her as she thought about Anton and wondered what he would say or think in this particular instance. _Strange that I’m thinking about him more now than I ever did before,_ she thought.

She glanced down at her clothing and realized that her shorts and shirt were now in quite a state. They were completely soaked and frigid against her skin. She held out the hope that the sun would come out and they would dry out, but after another glance skyward, she dismissed it. The clouds had changed until they were nearly black in color.

Instead of remaining where she was, she got to her feet and started to walk back in the direction that she had come. As she walked, her body continued to shiver but when she reached the muddy path that extended between several trees, she started to make her way between them.

As she walked, the mud seeped into the open holes of her sandals until it had reached her exposed skin. The coldness of it made her cringe, but she figured that by the time she reached the pond, she would be able to dip her feet into the water and wash it all off.

She continued to walk, but each time the wind blew, she felt the chill going straight through her. Seconds later, she ran headlong into an object that was blocking the path.

She slowly raised her head to see that it was a large blue colored box, which stood about eight feet high. There was a lantern style light on top of it, which, at the moment, had been turned off. Oddly, the light reminded her of a beacon at the top of a lighthouse, but that was where the similarity ended. Beneath the light and along the top panels were the words ‘Police Public Call Box’. Below the words were; what appeared to be windows.

“What is that thing?” she muttered under her breath. Her voice was now trembling, in part from the cold, but also because she was nervous. Generally, Patty was not frightened by objects, but the fact that this thing had not been there an hour ago made her wonder what it was and how it had gotten there.

Logically, she knew that there was no feasible way that it could just appear from out of nowhere. Of course, that did not stop the questions from filtering through her mind. The box was not a figment of her imagination; it was as solid as one of the trees that grew in the general area.

Shifting her attention, she began to read a small white placard that was about eye level on one of the narrow double doors.

POLICE TELEPHONE  
FREE  
FOR USE OF  
PUBLIC  
ADVICE & ASSISTANCE  
OBTAINABLE IMMEDIATELY  
OFFICERS & CARS  
RESPOND TO ALL CALLS  
PULL TO OPEN

She reached for one of the two metal handles and began to pull on it, all the while hoping that it would give way and she would be able to get inside and find some shelter from the cold.

Discovering that it was locked, she tried the smaller door, but that did not open either. Sighing, she lowered her hand and took a deep breath as she started to make her way around the strange object. To the left, she could walk freely, but to the right, the box was parked directly against a group of trees.

She bypassed it and once she was behind it, she turned back around and stared at it. The wooden object looked the same as it did from the front, minus the white placard. The windows and blue panels were identical on the three visible sides.

Still uncertain about what it was she had discovered, she decided to return to the front of it and wait and see if the owner would eventually return.

After several moments of waiting, she looked for a foothold on one of the trees that was along the right side of the box. Finding one, she heaved herself up to one of the windows. Reaching it, she cupped her hands around her eyes and tried to peer inside.

This did not work, the windows were black in color and after several moments, she climbed back down and started to look for a dry place to sit down and wait. Finding nothing like that, she decided that since her clothing was already wet, she would merely sit down on the ground and lean up against the box. As she got comfortable, she could feel the moisture from the ground seeping through the fabric of her shorts until it had reached her skin.

There, she began to reflect on the rainy afternoons when she and Anton would sit in his hideout and talk. There was no end to their conversations, which had been the best way to pass the time. Now, she was alone, wet, and confused.

She clasped her hands together and stared down at her intertwined fingers. “I wish Anton could be with me right now,” she whispered softly to herself.

~~~~~

About halfway between Ruth’s house and the pond, Ruth, Martha, and the Doctor stopped walking and elder of the two women pointed down a path. “You two go that way and I’ll take the other path. This one’s closest to her house, the other one leads back to mine. If I get to the pond first, I’ll come back down the second path and meet you. If you get there first, just stay there and wait for me.”

“Alright,” the Doctor said as he started to follow the path.

For her part, Martha glanced over at Ruth and when she noticed the look of concern in the older woman’s dark brown eyes; she reached out and touched her shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her.”

The woman nodded, but instead of responding, she merely backed away and started to walk along the tracks in the direction of the overpass.

Seconds later, Martha ran to catch up with the Doctor. When she finally did, she looked at him. “What will happen if we find her first?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you saw how Ruth initially reacted to us. Do you think that Patty might respond in a similar way?”

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders. “If she does then would you mind going ahead to find Ruth?”

“As long as I don’t have to go back into town by myself, I can do that,” Martha said.

“I don’t estimate that happening,” the Doctor responded. “Since we saw no one when we first arrived, I don’t anticipate finding any of the townspeople out here now. They’re probably trying to shelter themselves from the weather.”

Martha nodded and they made their way along the muddy path that led to the pond. The Doctor remembered the path and after several moments he spoke. “This should lead us back to the TARDIS.”

“How can you tell?” Martha asked. “Everything around here looks the same.”

“Simple, there are smaller indentures on the ground,” he said. “It looks as though we weren’t the only ones who had taken this path.”

Martha nodded and continued trudging along. When she spotted the blueness of the TARDIS in front of them, she briefly glanced over at the Doctor, but noticed that he was not looking at the object at all.

Instead, he was staring at the silhouette of a young girl who was seated on the wet ground and leaning up against it. Her legs were folded against her chest and her head slightly lowered with her arms draped over her knees.

The Doctor took a deep breath. “How long do you suppose she’s been sitting out here?” he whispered.

“No idea, but if she stays out here much longer, she’ll catch her death,” Martha responded. “That is if she hasn’t already.”

Agreeing, the Doctor wordlessly came closer to where she was seated. As soon as he had reached her, he noticed that she was shivering uncontrollably. Her hair was wet, and her clothing was completely drenched. _She must have been out in the cold since probably before the rain had started and the temperature had dropped,_ he thought. Her skin looked pale and her long wavy brown hair hung in clumps down over her shoulders.

_It looks as though she is waiting for someone to come back,_ he thought as he crouched down in front of her, the tail of his jacket now dragging against the muddy earth. “Are you Patty Bergen?” he asked softly.

The girl raised her head and when her brown eyes met his, she inhaled quickly as though frightened by the sudden appearance of the tall man standing over her. Instinctively, she inched away from him, but in lieu of a verbal response, she offered a silent nod.

“How long have you been sitting out here?” Martha asked.

Patty remained silent, but responded with a casual shrug of her shoulders.

After several moments had passed between them, Martha crouched down so that she would be eye level with the girl. She then reached over and touched Patty’s face and immediately felt a feverish heat as well as clammy skin. Seconds later, she pulled her hand away and stood back up, her gaze never leaving Patty’s face. “You have a fever, and it’s probably from sitting out here in the cold for such a long duration of time.”

After further study, she noticed that the girl’s eyes were puffy and red as though she had been crying. Given what Ruth had told them back at the house, Martha was not at all surprised by the girl’s tears.

For his part, the Doctor watched as the girl tried to wipe the remaining traces of moisture away. He was not quite certain he liked the notion of one so young having to conceal her feelings, but given what he had witnessed in town, he could clearly understand why.

Instead of remaining crouched on the ground, he found a patch of grass and sat down beside her.

“W-who are you?” she eventually found her voice and asked.

“I’m the Doctor and this is Martha Jones,” he began. “Are you afraid?”

“I guess not,” she whispered.

“That’s good,” he said with an approving nod. “That’s very good.”

Instead of immediately responding to his words, Patty motioned with one of her hands back towards the large blue box that she was still leaning up against. “I-is that thing yours?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said nodding.

“What is it exactly?” she asked before sneezing and wiping her nose with the sleeve of her wet shirt. She lowered her head as another gust of cold air blew against her. Instead of speaking, she tightened her arms more snugly around her body as a means of maintaining some warmth.

“That might not be so easy for me to explain,” he said as he offered his hand to her. “Come on, let me help you up. We’ve been looking for you. It would seem that your mother’s been trying to find you.”

“I have a hard time believing that,” Patty said with a snort as she hesitantly accepted his offered hand and allowed him to help her back to her feet.

“Perhaps,” he said as she sneezed again.

“Doctor, I think it would be wise for her to get something warm and dry on before she gets even sicker than she already is,” Martha said.

“That would mean I’d have to go back home and right now I don’t want to,” the girl said stubbornly.

“You’d risk illness over getting a coat?” Martha asked skeptically.

The Doctor took a deep breath as he removed his overcoat and wrapped it around her. “I think this will have to suffice for now. Does it help?”

“A little, thank you,” Patty said as she clasped the folds of the jacket and tried to cocoon her way into the warmth of it.

Martha looked at the Doctor. “If we are standing next to the door leading inside the TARDIS, then why don’t we just go inside? It’s bound to be warmer in there than it is out here.”

The Doctor glanced down at Patty before addressing his companion’s question. “Do you think that Patty would willingly go anywhere with us? To her we are strangers...”

“…Yes, and as my mother always said, ‘never go with strangers’,” Martha finished. “Alright, then what do we do? I don’t want to stand out here and watch her get frostbite or something worse.”

The Doctor shook his head as he regarded the girl who stood before him. She was still shivering and her eyes were tightly closed against the wind. “Sometimes we have to forget those things when it comes to doing what needs to be done in order to help another person.” He took a deep breath. “Patty, would you let us try to help you?”

“How can you help me?” she whispered.

The Doctor took a deep breath. “Well, for starters, let us take you someplace warm and dry. I know that you’re wary of us, and for good reason, but you have no reason to be afraid. Your friend Ruth met us in town earlier and we offered to help her find you.”

“You know Ruth?”

The Doctor nodded. “Yes.” He turned back to face Martha. “Would you go and find Ruth and bring her back here?”

Martha nodded. “Sure, I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Patty watched her make her way around the TARDIS and once she disappeared in the distance and they were alone, she gripped even tighter to the coat. “I should probably just go home,” she mused.

“But you don’t want to, do you?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No, but, I’m freezing. I don’t get it. Why has it gotten so cold here? It’s supposed to be the middle of summer.”

“Yes, that is a rather strange anomaly,” he said. “You dressed for a summery day and then you get…this.”

Patty shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe I’m just cold because I got stuck out in the rain.”

“Do you always try to rationalize things?”

Patty shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, I guess so.”

“Well, it’s not always necessary, sometimes the best answers aren’t the ones that require extensive thought,” he said as he dug in his pocket and pulled out a simple key. “Now, with that said, I’d really like to get inside, but I don’t want to leave you out here alone.”

“You’re cold too?”

“Yes, quite a bit actually,” he said as he stuck the key in the lock and turned it.

At that moment, Patty raised her head, “Doctor?”

“What is it?”

“What’s happening here?” she asked. “I know I shouldn’t admit it, but this whole thing sort of scares me.”

“I can tell,” he said as he made eye contact with the teenager and recognized that her fear was not so much of what had been happening with the weather, but instead, of him. “You said earlier that you weren’t afraid of me, but I get the feeling that you are.”

“You showed up when the weather started changing,” Patty mused.

“I know, but answer me this; what do your instincts tell you?”

“What do you mean?” she asked wearily.

“It’s a pretty straightforward question. What do your senses tell you about me?”

Patty closed her eyes for a couple of seconds. When she opened them again, she spoke. “I guess they’re saying that you really want me to trust you and not be afraid.”

He nodded and smiled slightly. “Is there anything else?”

Instead of responding, she closed her eyes again. It was true that there was something strange about him, but the longer she was in his company the more inclined she felt to believe him and his intentions. Eventually, she shook her head.

The Doctor motioned towards the door of the TARDIS. “Now, would you like to go inside and get warm?”

“Will we fit?”

“I think we’ll manage,” he said and chuckled. “Don’t you believe that anything’s possible?”

“I used to, but anymore I don’t believe in much of anything,” she whispered more to herself than to him.

The Doctor turned around and faced her. “Sometimes the grandest things are those you get to see with your own eyes.”

Patty nodded and for some reason his words reminded her of Anton. As she felt the moisture catching beneath her eyes, a stray tear escaped but before she could wipe it away, he had seen it.

Instead of saying anything about this, he reached for her hand and once he held it, he gently pulled her through the door and inside. “It’s alright.”

As they entered, the Doctor closed the door as Patty felt a sudden surge of warmth envelope her. She looked down and could feel that that the Doctor was still holding her hand. Despite her apprehension, she allowed her fingers to wind around his for a brief moment before releasing their hold.

Moments ticked slowly by as she raised her head and looked around the large room in absolute wonder. The words ‘bigger on the inside’ were literally stuck in her throat, but even then, she was not certain as to what she should say or do first.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Meanwhile, Martha was outside walking up the path that led to the pond. The sky had become slightly more threatening and taking note of this, she decided that it was imperative that she hurry. As she quickened her pace, she shivered as the wind blew heavily against her.

“Ruth?” She called out.

After several moments she reached the clearing and saw the pond. It was not large, in fact on a clear day one could see the outer banks less than a kilometer away. “Ruth?” she called out the woman’s name a second time.

When no answer emerged, she continued to walk, but stopped to pick up a strangely shaped stick and run it between her fingers. She approached the edge of the pond and stuck the stick into the water. When she tried to pull it out again, it remained stuck and upright. She shook her head in profound disbelief. “What on Earth?” She muttered as she tried yet again to pull the object out. When she could not, she simply continued to walk slowly along the perimeters of it.

By this time, the overall sensation of the area felt bizarre and uninviting. It reminded her vaguely of the moments just after meeting the Doctor when the hospital where she was working as an intern suddenly appeared on the moon. This made her believe that a pending adventure was at hand and that the Doctor’s assertions about Jenkinsville being the center of it were not too far off.

_How does he do that?_ She asked herself as she broke into a run and called out Ruth’s name a third time.

By this time, precipitation had once again started, but this time instead of it being just rain, it was sleet, and she felt instantly cold when the wetness of it landed against her exposed skin. _This is not possible,_ she thought to herself, but watched as the ice that covered the pond had, within seconds, completely froze over. The stick she had used to test the water was now covered with icicles and appeared as though it had become a permanent fixture in the pond.

Feeling a strange sense of panic filling her, Martha called out Ruth’s name a fourth time.

“I’m here, Honey,” the woman called out as she stumbled out into the clearing.

“Are you alright?” Martha asked.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine, but it’s gotten colder. What is happening here? Did you find Patty? Where’s the Doctor?” Despite generally being a person with a calming disposition, the confusion Ruth now carried was emerging as questions tumbled out one after the other.

“We found Patty,” Martha said hurriedly. “The Doctor sent me here to find you and to bring you back to the TARDIS.”

“The what?”

“We’ll explain everything later. Right now we have to get back there before we freeze,” Martha said. “The Doctor was talking to Patty when I left to come find you. While I was out here, the pond completely froze over in a minute’s time.”

“That’s not possible,” Ruth said.

“Maybe not, but it happened,” Martha said. “Listen, I really do think that there’s something dangerous afoot here. We need to get back and tell the Doctor what we’ve seen. He’ll know what to do.”

Ruth nodded and started to follow Martha. “Alright, but answer me one question.”

“Okay.”

“Why are we going back in the direction of the Bergen’s house when my house is back that way? Or did the Doctor take Patty home?”

“No, but I’ll let him explain when we get there,” she said. “I’m not sure I’m qualified to be answering questions right now. I’ve only been traveling with the Doctor the equivalent of about five days.”

“What do you mean?” Ruth asked.

“When I first met him, it was under some rather bizarre circumstances. I was working as a doctoral intern in a hospital in London,” Martha said.

“You’re a doctor too?” Ruth asked.

“Not yet, I still have exams, but that’s my hope,” she said.

“A doctor, good heavens, this is a bit too much for me to take,” the older woman mused.

“Where I come from, it’s not 1945,” Martha said.

“Something tells me that I may regret asking, but what year is it?” Ruth asked.

“2007,” Martha said.

“You’re from the future?” Ruth asked as she stopped dead in her tracks. “What about the Doctor?”

“Based on the limited information I have about him, the Doctor is from another time and place entirely. He’s good, but he can sometimes be quite confusing,” Martha said stopping as well. “One thing that won’t hurt you to know about the Doctor is that he tends to follow trouble like bees follow honey.”

“Yes, I sort of suspected that,” Ruth said. “I knew you was a bit different. It was not just from your strange clothes, but the way you talk to each other. No black woman in her right mind would ever get away with talking to a white man the way you talk to him.”

“He doesn’t mind that, in fact, I think it amuses him,” Martha said honestly. “He’s proof positive that times can and do change. I can’t tell you more, but I will say that the station of our people’s lives in this time will change and your son and his children and his children’s children will have it far better than you have had. Don’t tell the Doctor I told you that, he might get upset if he suspects that I’ve said that much.”

“Baby, you don’t have to worry none about that, I’ve always known deep in my heart that my Robert will have it better than me,” Ruth paused for a moment before her next words emerged. “It sounds like you feel a great deal for the Doctor, though.”

Instead of responding, Martha turned away, but soon felt Ruth’s hand on her shoulder. “Keep in mind Honey, Patty holds the same feelings for Anton that I suspect you may harbor for the Doctor. It’s not hard to tell when you’re as old as I am.”

“That may be the case, Ruth, but did Anton pay attention to Patty or did he give her the brush off?” Martha asked.

“He always cared,” the older woman said, but after several moments of silence passed, she continued speaking. “The Doctor must be an extraordinary man for you to care for him as you do.”

“He is.”

“So, maybe you have to keep in mind that you’re pretty special to be chosen to accompany him,” Ruth said wisely.

“Maybe, but I really think we should stop talking about this and get back so no one will worry,” Martha said.

“Do you know the way?” Ruth asked.

Martha nodded and the two women set off once again.

~~~~~

Inside the TARDIS, Patty was getting worried. It had been close to ten minutes since Martha had gone to look for Ruth and the two of them had yet to return. The size of the room where she was now seated left her somewhat in a panic. Wringing her hands together she simply stared at the console.

Instead of commenting on the teenager’s stance, the Doctor sat down beside her and looked out across the vastness of his ship. “Ruth told Martha and me about Anton,” he eventually said.

“She did?”

He nodded. “Yes and I have to say that I think what you did was one of the bravest things I’ve ever heard.”

“I’m not all that brave, Doctor,” she whispered.

“Why do you say that?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she said shrugging her shoulders. “Maybe I did what I did because there weren’t any other options.”

“You don’t honestly believe that, do you?” he asked. “You could have simply ignored the need.”

“No, that was never an option,” she said with an adamant shake of her head.

“Then perhaps that’s what makes your act so significant,” he said.

The teenager lowered her head and stared down at her hands. “No one’s ever described it like that before.”

“Maybe because the people you have encountered could not see beyond their own prejudices,” he said.

“Have you ever lost anyone?” she asked.

“Yes, I have,” he said. “And I know how painful it is.”

As these words filled the room, he reached over and rested his hand on her shoulder. Feeling this she raised her head and looked at him. Instead of speaking, she bit down on her lower lip until it drew blood and she could taste the saltiness of it.

For his part, the Doctor could see that she carried far more inside than just pain. What he was seeing was a combination of several emotions; regret, torment, and grief. _This is far more than a teenage girl should ever have to contend with,_ he thought sadly as he took a deep breath. “Patty, why won’t you allow yourself to cry?” he finally asked. “You want to, don’t you?”

“I guess,” she whispered.

“Why don’t you?”

“Because I’m afraid that people will put me down for doing it.”

“I wouldn’t,” he said.

“Yeah, but how do I know that?”

“You don’t. That’s where you have to trust your instincts,” he said. “The advantage you have is really quite simple; you release the pain that you have been harboring for the past year. What right would I have to judge you for doing that? To someone like me, it really shouldn’t matter, right?”

“But it does matter.”

“Why?”

“I don’t have any friends and…” her voice trailed.

“…You have Ruth,” he began. “But, you want more than just one friend, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but it’s stupid.”

“You judge yourself rather harshly, don’t you?” he asked pointedly. When she raised her head, he continued speaking, his voice laced in matter-of-fact undertones. “You think that if you put yourself down first, then it would make all of this easier. That’s the very same reason you give for not allowing yourself to cry, isn’t it?”

She raised her head and looked into the brown eyes of the Time Lord. After several moments of silence, she found her voice and spoke. “If I start to cry, then I won’t ever be able to stop.”

“Regret is a terrible thing to live with, isn’t it?”

Patty nodded, but she could still feel the tears stinging in her eyes and she kept her gaze on her lap. Instead of allowing herself the release, she sat silently for several moments before speaking. “Can I ask you something?”

He nodded.

“Where are you from? I mean; you’re not from around here, are you?”

“No, I’m not,” he said. “I’m from Gallifrey.”

She shrugged her shoulders, but instead of asking where or what ‘Gallifrey’ was, her next words took him somewhat by surprise. “You’re really lucky.”

“Why is that?”

She took a deep breath and spoke, her voice still very weak. “You’re a grown up and you can just run away from all the painful stuff and never have to worry about going back.”

“Perhaps, but no one can really spend their entire existence running,” he said. “Eventually you have to summon the courage and find your way back home.” He became silent as the irony of his words washed over him.

“What if home isn’t a very nice place?” she asked. “What if going back means facing your greatest fears?”

The Doctor’s eyes widened unconsciously. He never expected that a child could speak with such unguarded wisdom. “And you say that you have no courage when you possess far more valor than some people twice your age.”

This brought a tiny smile to her face and with one of her hands she placed it atop his. “Thank you, Doctor,” she whispered gratefully.

“I don’t know what for,” he said.

“Just for being there,” she said bravely. “It means a lot.”

“Well, then you’re welcome.” Instead of pressuring her to contend with her grief, he decided to simply change the subject. “Now, while we wait for Martha and Ruth to return, what’s say we try and figure out this crazy weather? It might take your mind off your troubles.”

Patty nodded, “okay, but where do we start?”

He glanced towards the door leading outside. “Maybe it would be a wise idea for one of us to go outside and find Martha and Ruth first.”

“I can do that,” Patty said. “They’re probably still at the pond.” She watched as he got to his feet and went over to the console. Instead of getting up and walking towards the door, she followed him. “Doctor, does the weather have anything to do with why you’re here?”

“Possibly,” he said noncommittally.

“Could I be the reason for it?” Patty asked insecurely.

“I’m not yet certain it could lie in the actions or the presence of a single person,” he said honestly. “In this case it may just be a strange coincidence.”

“You don’t believe that, do you?” she asked. “The townspeople seem to think that I caused it. That’s why I didn’t want to go home earlier, I was scared that they would see me and start harassing me again.”

“Well, I won’t rule anything out, but I will say that you do stand out.” Patty lowered her head and sighed as he took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean that in a negative way. You and Ruth are the only people in Jenkinsville that I would ever consider showing the TARDIS to. That’s how important you are.”

“Me?”

“Yes,” he said nodding. “The people who make the greatest impact on any world, in any society, are the ones who are not afraid to lend a hand, or help those in need. Do you think that any of the townspeople are capable of changing the world?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I never really thought much about it.”

“Oh I think you have, but you’re such a modest person that you would never come out and respond to that question with a resounding ‘no’,” he said with a knowing smile. “Now, you said that you’d go and get Ruth and Martha, so I’ll start running a few theories until you get back.”

“You won’t leave while I’m out finding them, will you?” She asked.

“No, I promise I won’t go anywhere while you’re out there. After all, you still have my favorite jacket,” he smirked before shifting his attention back to the console.

Patty smiled but quietly slipped her arms through the sleeves and tried to burrow herself deeper into the folds of fabric before walking towards the door. “I’ll be back as fast as I can,” she said. Reaching it, she stepped outside.

~~~~~

The moment Patty stepped outside, she gasped at the realization that the freezing rain had turned to snow.

She walked around the TARDIS and after staring for several moments back at it, she made her way towards the pond, all the while calling Ruth and Martha’s names.

“Ruth, Martha, where are you?”

“We’re right here,” Ruth’s voice emerged seconds later and she watched as both she and Martha came out of a clearing and approached her. “Where on earth have you been?”

“I was talking to the Doctor,” Patty whispered.

“Did he find out anything?” Martha asked.

“No nothing yet, we just started talking about…” her voice broke and she swallowed as she looked at Ruth. “…Anton. I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

“I know, Honey Babe,” Ruth said gently.

“Anyway, the Doctor said that he was going to try and figure out what was happening with the weather. Do you think it’s happening in other places and not just here?”

“I don’t rightfully know. I overheard Jerry in town telling Sheriff Caldwell that in Little Rock it’s close to eighty,” Ruth said.

“That’s weird,” Patty said as she pulled the jacket even closer to her shivering body.

“Did the Doctor say anything about what he thought was causing it?” Martha asked.

“He said he had some theories, but asked me to come out and find you and bring you back to where you and he had found me.”

“Where’s that?” Ruth asked.

“Along the path leading back to my house,” the teenager responded. “Ruth, you’re not going to believe what he showed me.”

“He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No, he was really nice. He told me that he wanted to help and then he showed me the inside of his police box. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. It’s actually bigger on the inside.”

Martha smiled upon hearing these words, but said nothing.

Ruth watched as her young friend began to shiver. “I don’t know nothing about that sort of thing, Honey Babe, but before we all get frostbite, we best get somewhere warm and dry. It’s too cold for us to stand around here talkin’ ‘bout police boxes and illusions. Let’s just go and do as he said.”

As they set off, Patty looked at her friend. “Ruth, do you think that the Doctor will be able to figure any of this out? I mean; he’s nice and all, but there’s something really strange about him.”

“I’ve heard that description before,” Martha mused.

“He’s just wise ‘bout things is all,” Ruth said. “I reckon that can make any man seem a bit strange, but that don’t mean that he would wish to do us harm.”

The teenager nodded and the two of them started back down the path in the direction that Patty had just come in. When they reached the TARDIS, Patty motioned with her hand. “There it is.”

When Ruth saw the object, bigger than life in front of her, she clasped her hands together and spoke. “Oh Lord Almighty. You wasn’t kidding about this strange looking thing.”

As the three of them came around the side of the box, Martha opened the door and slipped inside while Patty and Ruth remained outside for several moments. Hesitantly, the teenager tapped lightly on the door and waited for it to swing open.

When it finally did, they found themselves face to face with the Doctor. “Ah, I see Patty found you, Ruth. She was worried about you. Please, step inside.”

Ruth watched as he backed away from the doorway and when she peered into the control room, her eyes widened and she gasped in disbelief. “This…is…not possible,” she whispered as Patty brushed her way past them and came inside.

As soon as the door was closed behind them, the teenager began to rub her hands brusquely together. Her clothes were still wet, and she was not sure how long she would have to sit around in them before they would be completely dry.

For his part, the Doctor looked at Ruth, who was still eyeing the room suspiciously. “Welcome aboard the TARDIS.”

“I heard you use that word before, what is it, an acronym?” Patty asked as she tried to distract herself from how cold she was.

“Yes,” the Doctor said, clearly pleased by her question. “It means, Time And Relative Dimension In Space.”

“Is that a fancy word for a time machine?” Ruth asked.

The Doctor nodded, “in a manner of speaking.”

“So you can really go back in time in this thing?” Patty asked as she cast a brief look at Ruth.

“Yes, and forward as well.”

“So, when you said you was just passing through, you really meant ‘just passing through’?” Ruth asked as Patty sneezed.

“Yes,” he said as he looked at the teenager. “I think before we continue this discussion, Patty needs something warmer to put on. There’s a wardrobe down that corridor. Take the first left, second right, third doorway to your left; then go straight under the stairs and past the bins. It’s the fifth door on your left.”

Patty looked at him. “With those directions, I’m not sure I’ll be able to find it. It sounds kind of confusing.”

“I’ll go with you,” Martha said.

“If you get lost, just call,” the Doctor said. “I’ll stay here and get the coordinates locked in. Ruth, why don’t you come over here and help me?”

The eldest woman nodded and watched as Patty and Martha left the control room.

“What can I do?” she asked. “I have a hard time operating them new fangled vacuum cleaners.”

“Not to worry,” he said with a wink. “I won’t ask you to do anything that is as difficult as that.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

After leaving the control room, Martha and Patty started to walk in the direction of the wardrobe. Several moments passed in silence and the teenager looked at the Doctor’s companion. “Is this thing really a time machine?”

Martha nodded. “It is, but I’ve not been here long enough to know the extent of what it can do.”

“Can it change events in history?” Patty asked.

“I don’t know, maybe, but you’d have to ask the Doctor about that,” Martha said. “From what I’ve gathered, there are rules about this stuff that I haven’t yet learned.”

“It’s strange, I was never afraid to ask questions, but now I am,” Patty said, but looked down at the ground as they walked.

“Why?”

“I guess I’m scared of what the answers might be. I’m afraid that the Doctor might get angry if I start asking him about this stuff.”

“Are you afraid of the Doctor?” Martha asked.

“I don’t think I am,” Patty whispered. “It’s something else.”

“What?”

“I guess I’m afraid that I’ll let him down, or he’ll let me down,” Patty whispered brokenly. “I had a friend like that, and he was the best friend I could ever have asked for. He cared for me and accepted me as I am, but then he left and then I was alone. Before we said good-bye, he gave me his ring.” She pulled on the chain that was around her neck and on it was a heavy man’s ring. “After he was gone, I started telling stories about the ring wanting to feel as though I was important. But, it didn’t make me feel that way because they were stupid stories and they weren’t even true. Later, I found out that he had been killed and…”

“…And your world suddenly ended,” Martha finished.

Patty nodded, “yeah. I don’t want to start caring for someone and then watch them leave, and never come back. It would be too much like what happened with Anton.”

“You do know that that is a possible risk, especially with someone like the Doctor,” Martha said honestly. “But, a true friend never stops being your friend even if you or they leave. I knew someone back before I started my studies and he was a pretty amazing person, and we remained friends even after he left the university and followed his own path. That happens, Patty, probably more often than you can even imagine. It doesn’t make you less of friends, because true friendship can survive any distance or situation.”

“But, Anton’s dead,” Patty whispered.

“I know, and I’m really sorry.” For several moments after Martha had said these words, both of them became silent for several moments.

When they reached the wardrobe and the two of them entered the room, Martha tried to lighten the mood. “So, what sort of outfit would you like? The Doctor’s got everything in here.”

“No dresses,” Patty said as she started to thumb her way through a rack of clothes. “I never could get into wearing dresses.”

Martha began to help her and after several moments she had found a pair of long brown pants. “How about these?” she asked. “They are dark brown and look to be quite practical.”

“Are they warm?” Patty asked.

“The fabric is thick, but maybe you should try them on and see,” Martha suggested.

Patty nodded and continued to dig through the racks of clothes until she found a soft light brown cotton shirt with a high neckline and long sleeves. This she tossed on top of the pants and started to look for a sweater to go over it.

She found that there were vast numbers of sweaters, many of them strange colors and with equally strange patterns. Finally, she found a simple beige sweater with a rounded collar that seemed to match the other items that she had selected.

Before changing into the clothes, Martha showed her where the washroom was and left her to wash the dirt and mud off her feet.

Back inside the wardrobe, Patty took off the Doctor’s long overcoat and laid it gently on a chair. “Do you think we can get this cleaned for him? I feel badly getting his favorite jacket all dirty.”

“I wouldn’t worry, we can take it back to the control room and ask him about it,” she said as Patty got dressed.

Once she was finished, the teenager stood in front of a full-length mirror and inspected the outfit she had selected. “I feel a lot better now,” she eventually said.

“I can believe it, you really got soaked out there. I was afraid that you’d get sick if you had stayed out there for much longer than you did. You look good.” She handed Patty a pair of shoes and socks and watched as the teenager put them on. “You ready to head back? The Doctor’s probably waiting for us.”

Patty nodded and once she had put on the shoes, the two of them left the wardrobe and started to make their way back down the hall in the direction of the control room. “How do we find our way back?” she asked. “These passageways all look the same.”

“It takes some getting used to,” Martha said. “If we can’t find the way, all we have to do is call the Doctor, and he’ll help us.”

Martha and Patty passed the bins as the teenager adjusted the sweater she wore. “It’s really strange that I would be wearing winter clothes in the middle of summer.”

“Yes, but that reminds me, we really should tell the Doctor about the snow when we get back to the control room,” Martha said.

After several minutes, they reached it and the Doctor raised his head from what he was doing and smiled. “I see you’ve found your way back.”

“Well, I have been in the TARDIS for five days now, I should know my way around at least a little bit,” Martha said.

“And you, Patty, do you feel any better now?” He asked, intentionally ignoring Martha’s statement.

“Yeah, I feel warmer,” she said.

“I would think so,” he said. “Well then, I suppose we should be off.”

“Did you know that it started snowing outside?” Patty asked.

“Snowing, you say?”

“Yes,” Martha interjected. “The pond where I met Ruth earlier is completely frozen solid. If we go back outside, we’ll probably find that everything is white.”

In response to this, the Doctor went over to the door and opened it. As he did a gust of wind blew straight into the control room. Just as Martha had surmised, the entire area was covered by a blanket of snow.

Instead of venturing outside, he quickly closed the door and looked at his three passengers. “It looks like we’re off to Little Rock, then.”

“Why Little Rock?” Ruth asked.

“The men back in town said that it was reported to be warmer there by about thirty degrees. I want to go and see for myself if that’s really the case.” He turned back towards the console. “Find something to hold onto everyone.”

As soon as he spoke, the TARDIS engines started whirring and Patty recognized the sound as being the same as what she had heard earlier. When the entire room began jerking about, she reached for the railing and held on for dear life. Ruth tumbled to the floor but soon felt Martha grabbing her hand and helping her over to a better location.

Instead of screaming, the two newcomers remained quiet as they felt themselves being catapulted through the air. When the motions eventually stopped, they sensed that the machine was finally landing.

“W-where are we?” The teenager managed to speak as she glanced down at her hands and noticed that her knuckles were completely white.

“If my calculations are correct, we should be in Little Rock, which is approximately 167 kilometers or 104 miles away from Jenkinsville,” the Doctor said. He looked at the coat that was now in Martha’s hand. “I’ll look into cleaning that later. Just leave it here.”

Martha nodded and gently draped it over one of the pillars and watched as the Doctor stepped closer to the door leading outside.

When he opened it, both Ruth and Patty expected to feel a cold breeze wafting into the TARDIS, but that did not happen at all. Instead, they felt as though they had stepped into a tropical paradise. The temperature was considerably warmer than it had been back in Jenkinsville.

Patty stepped outside and looked around. When she saw the domed state capitol building in the distance she started to walk towards it. “It’s the capitol building. I’ve seen pictures of it in the paper, but never live. How did we get here?”

Instead of responding to her question, the Doctor started to walk several meters away and glanced skyward. “How can it be thirty degrees warmer when we are less than 200 kilometers away?” He turned back around and looked at Martha. “Make sure they don’t wander off. We’re going to eventually have to head back to Jenkinsville.”

The woman nodded and started to follow Patty and Ruth.

For his part the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and checked it for strange readings. Finding none, he went back inside the TARDIS and retrieved a transistor radio from off the control panel. “I knew this would come in handy one day,” he mused as he turned it on.

Static abruptly filled his ears and even after turning several knobs, he realized that there was something blocking the reception. He decided to go back outside and as he did he pulled up the antennae on the radio and began to listen as the static gave way to the sounds of people’s voices.

“…And now the weather. Warm sunny temperatures are expected to continue throughout the day as record highs are being reported throughout the state, with the exception of Cross   
County where sections of it are experiencing record lows and, in some cases, unseasonal snowfall…” 

The Doctor switched off the radio and walked over to where Martha, Patty, and Ruth were standing.

“Did you find out anything?” Patty asked.

“Well, aside from the fact that they know about the weather conditions in Jenkinsville, they seem to have little idea as to how it all happened or what they can do to remedy it.”

“So, what do we do now?” Ruth asked.

“I guess the only thing that can be done is for us to return to Jenkinsville and try and figure this out from there,” the Doctor said.

“Take us back?” Patty asked, but when he did not respond, she slowly walked away from them with Martha following. This left Ruth and the Doctor alone.

“You just gonna dump her, ain’t you?” Ruth asked. “Just the same as what everyone else has done.”

“I’m sorry?” the Doctor looked at her.

“Patty ain’t the girl she was a year ago, Doctor,” Ruth began. “I see it in her eyes. Now, I don’t rightfully know why, but I think she sees hope in you.”

“How can she? She doesn’t really know me.”

“She knows enough, and when I see that, then that’s enough for me,” Ruth said. “When you said that thing is a time machine, I saw hope in her that I ain’t seen in over a year. Don’t you see? That little girl looks at you and sees something that she thought was dead inside of her. It died with Anton, but now it’s back.”

“But, I can’t bring Anton back,” the Doctor confessed. “I wish I could, but I can’t. There are rules about interfering in individual timelines. I can’t go back into Patty’s and fix everything for her. I wish I could.”

“Well, then before you dump us back in Jenkinsville without so much as a word, then you’d better tell her. I don’t know what I’d say if you just disappeared and never come back. Poor baby, she starts to think she’s got value in this here world and then she’s basically told she don’t.”

“But she does,” the Doctor objected. “I told her that when we spoke.”

“That don’t make no difference if you run away from her,” Ruth argued. “Look, I don’t know nothing ‘bout this time business, but what I do know is people. If you wanna make her believe she’s special, then you gotta give her reason to. If you just drop her in Jenkinsville, then all you’ll be doing is saying words with no actions to back it up. Words are nice, Baby, but they ain’t gonna give that child no feeling of being special unless they are backed by actions. Haven’t you even noticed that she needs to cry but can’t?”

“I noticed, but I can’t force her anymore than you could,” the Doctor said.

“You can be her friend and that’s all that baby really wants,” Ruth said. She reached over and rested her hand on his arm. “Doctor, I don’t know what it is about you, but I do know what goes through that child’s head.”

“But, I can’t help her,” he objected.

“You’re like her,” Ruth said. “I sees it, you’re just playing the hero, but you’re none too happy about doing it.” As a troubled look crossed his face, she squeezed his arm gently. “What’s the matter, Honey? Hasn’t anyone ever said that to you before?”

“Some people have, actually, but the problem is what you’re suggesting is dangerous,” the Doctor said softly. “My friends have been hurt because of me and because of what I sometimes have to do. It’s never easy for anyone to be friends with someone like me.”

“Oh Baby, you don’t stop being friends with someone because of what can happen to you for doing it. If that was the case, then Patty and me wouldn’t even be friends today.”

“She’s very lucky to have you for a friend,” he said.

“I hope you’re right, but think about what I said, Doctor. You may think you don’t need no one, but something tells me you do,” Ruth said as she walked back in the direction of the TARDIS.

Alone, the Doctor started to make his way back to the phone box. Reaching it, he saw that Martha was coming up to him, her eyes filled with worry. “Patty’s gone off alone,” she said softly. “I tried to stop her from wandering off, Doctor, but I couldn’t. She said she wanted to be alone and that she’d come back here after she had some time to herself.”

The Doctor took a deep breath. “Which way did she go?”

Martha pointed down a sidewalk, “that way.”

“Alright, stay at the TARDIS and I’ll see if I can catch up with her,” he said.

“Doctor…”

“…Please Martha, just do as I ask,” he said.

The young woman nodded and when she reached the door she stopped when she saw Ruth standing there.

“What happened?” Ruth asked. “Where’s he goin’?”

“He’s going after Patty, but maybe he’ll talk to her about what she told me earlier,” Martha whispered.

“What did she tell you?”

“She asked me things about the TARDIS and about what the Doctor does with it.”

“You mean something that he can’t give her,” Ruth whispered sadly. “This is gonna make it all the more harder for her to open up.” She looked down the sidewalk that the Doctor had opted to taking. “What should we do now?”

“He wants us to stay here.”

“Are we going to?” Ruth asked.

“We probably should, I’m not fully acquainted with the Doctor’s temperament about these kinds of things. I’m really not all that keen on testing it at the moment,” Martha said. “There’d have to be a very good reason for doing it and right now I don’t really have one.”

“What about that reason?” Ruth asked as she pointed towards the sky.

Martha raised her head and stared at the view overhead. Her eyes widened and she whispered, “Oh my God!”

Ruth clasped her hands together and looked at Martha. “I think we better find the Doctor right away,” she said and Martha nodded.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Patty was running along the sidewalk, which led in the direction of the state’s capitol building. At that moment, it was apparent that she did not care about getting lost; all she cared about was making some distance between the TARDIS and herself.

 _I’d rather be trapped here than to go back to Jenkinsville,_ she concluded. Although she had told Martha that she would be returning, she was no longer considering that as an option. The Doctor, like so many other people, had clearly decided to cast her off.

She rounded a corner, and because she was completely centered on her thoughts, she barely noticed that the weather had started to change. As she reached a side street, she spotted a park where several benches were positioned along the sandy paths.

Behind her, the Doctor was running, his eyes concerned brown eyes scanning the area. _Why must they always wander off? I know she’s a child and I shouldn’t be angry with her, but her behavior at the moment is completely illogical._ His thoughts were racing about as quickly as he was.

It was unclear as to what he would say once he had managed to catch up with her, but he continued to follow. He watched her round a corner and realized that she had mastered the tactical means of keeping others from following too closely behind her.

_She definitely knows what to do when it comes to running,_ he thought, as her advantage slimmed down to about three steps and he managed to extend his hand and touch her upper arm.

Upon feeling this, the teenager’s entire body stiffened and it looked as though she was caught in a state of panic.

“Wait, Patty, it’s only me,” he spoke. “Please just stop for a moment.”

Abruptly, she stopped and this caused him to nearly plow right into her. By the time he had managed to maintain his footing, she had turned around. “What do you want?”

“I asked you not to wander off,” he said directly.

“Yeah, but you also said you needed my help or was that just another lie?” she asked assertively.

“No, it wasn’t,” he began. “Just because I said we should go back to Jenkinsville does not mean that I intended on throwing you out and taking off again.”

“You didn’t?” she asked. “I thought you wanted to get rid of me. I just figured that I’d make things easier for both of us.”

“Easier?” he asked. “How can such an immature action be easier?”

“You don’t have to take me back to a place where I don’t want to go,” she responded, her words filled with suppressed pain.

“I can understand that, but you do realize that running away and living on the streets is not a preferable option. Just ask anyone who has ever tried to survive a winter without a roof over their head,” he said rationally.

“What do you care?” She asked brokenly.

The Doctor looked into the eyes of the teenager. “You may not believe it, but I do care. I wanted to spare you and Ruth the dangers that you could be facing by staying in my company.”

“But, you said I was brave,” she whispered. “I mean; doesn’t that mean I could face those dangers?”

“You are brave, but that doesn’t mean that we should be testing fate,” he said. “There are moments when I do know the extent of danger that I am in, and even then, I know that I cannot subject you to it. You’re a child, Patty, and no matter how grownup you try to behave, it doesn’t change that fact. Your friend, Anton…he did the very same thing, didn’t he? He knew that you would have been in danger had he stayed with you. That was the reason he left. It wasn’t because he didn’t care; it was because he was trying to protect you.”

“But, I wanted to go with him,” she whispered as she tried to look away. Now her vision was blurred by the tears that were stinging her eyes. Haphazardly, she wiped her hand over her eyes, but all she felt was pain. It was the very same pain that seemed so long ago, although only a year had passed…

…A very long, very lonely and painful year.

“I know you did,” he said as he gently took her hand and started to lead her away from the street and over to a bench that she had spotted only moments before. Reaching it, he bade her to sit down. “Before we go back, maybe it would be a good idea for us to clear up this little misunderstanding.”

“Why would you even want to talk to me?” she asked softly.

“Why wouldn’t I?” he asked as he pressed her hand between both of his.

“I don’t know. I figured you wouldn’t be interested,” she whispered.

“Why do you say that?” he asked.

“You seem so indifferent,” she whispered more to herself than to him.

“I’m not,” he said. “I do understand what you’ve been through.”

“You do?”

“Yes; and the people who truly matter will understand as well,” he smiled. “Sometimes people have to look beyond their own selfish pride to recognize it.”

She raised her head and looked at him before taking a deep breath. “You said that being around you was dangerous, but spending time with you couldn’t possibly be any worse than what I deal with back in Jenkinsville.”

“I’m not so sure of that,” he said honestly.

“I am,” she whispered.

“You seem to be more certain about other people than you are about yourself,” he observed. “Why is that?”

“I guess because people hate me no matter what I do,” she said sadly. “They all remember the things I did that they considered to be wrong, but they have no idea how much I wish I could just forget about it.”

“Why would you want to forget?” he asked.

“Because it hurts,” she said brokenly. “It hurts so much that sometimes I wish I could just die rather than try and face another day without him.”

“You love him that much. Don’t you?” he asked softly.

She nodded. “I know I’m only thirteen, and people say all the time that I’m too young to know what love really is. They’re wrong because I do know. The problem is; I don’t subscribe to their definitions or conditions about it.” She lowered her head and allowed the tears to fall.

The Doctor reached over and took both sides of her face in his hands and tipped her chin up. When her gaze locked on his, he spoke, his five words laced in simplicity. “He never really left you.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Because Anton became a dynamic part of who you are,” he said as he lowered one of his hands and touched the ring that hung over the sweater. “This ring became a reminder to you of his loving intentions and kind words. Why else would you wear a man’s ring on a chain around your neck?”

“I never mentioned it,” she whispered. “Did Ruth tell you?”

“No, and you didn’t have to either, it’s just something that I suspected the first time I noticed the ring,” he said. “Hold tightly to it, Patty, even with a loss that is as immense as this one is. It’s the most powerful thing that exists in the universe and you are so very lucky to have it.”

As he finished speaking, what he saw in her was indescribable sorrow. Up until that moment; she had tried every possible thing she could to conceal it. Now, his words had affirmed that the anguish she carried had been locked away for far too long. He remembered their conversation back in the TARDIS and how she had tried with all her might to keep him from seeing the heartbreak that was manifest in her.

At that moment, she knew that this mysterious man could see straight through her. Any attempt at masking the emotions she carried had fallen apart. “I…” she tried to speak, but it was clear that she could not. The words were still trapped somewhere inside of her.

In lieu of words, he wrapped his arms gently around her and pulled her into his strong hold.

Before Patty could cry or even offer some sort of verbal response, Martha and Ruth had found them and were rushing over to them. “Doctor,” Martha called out to him.

The Doctor released his hold, stood up, and looked at his companion. “I thought I asked you both to stay back at the TARDIS.”

“We know you did, but there’s a reason for us coming to look for you. Just look at the sky!” Martha shouted. “It’s doing the exact same thing it was doing back in Jenkinsville.”

He raised his head and stared as the grey mass that had started roll across the sky. He took a deep breath and looked at Patty, her expression laced in misery.

Instead of getting angry at them, he studied the sky for several moments. “We need to get out of here before we end up trapped in Little Rock with no means of escape,” he finally said. “Those clouds appear to be following us wherever we go. We managed to elude them once when we had left Jenkinsville, but now it seems as though our only option is to get away from the planet’s surface entirely.”

Patty got to her feet as a tremor of fear cursed through her. “What’s going to happen now?”

“I’m not yet certain,” the Doctor admitted. “However, in light of the current situation, I think the safest place for you and Ruth would be back inside the TARDIS.”

~~~~~

Across the galaxy, an icicle covered ship hovered in orbit around a small, but desolate looking planetoid.

The interior of the craft carried the same arctic style impression. The rooms and corridors were filled with icy looking structures that resembled stalactites or stalagmites. Tables and chairs were carved completely out of mountains of ice, and the place was a depiction that would parallel classic fairy tale stories that emerged from nineteenth century earth.

The creatures who occupied the ship were pale white, tall, and very thin, their bodies were like their surroundings and resembled molded ice. They wore simple gray colored robes that hung from the tops of their shoulders down to their ankles. Their hair and stature varied, but it appeared as though their rank was depicted by how tall or short they were. The more experienced beings had longer hair and were taller in stature than their counterparts.

The helmsman was taller than all the others and his hair hung completely down his back and had reached to back of his legs. Draped over his shoulders and covering his gray tunic hung a white colored piece of fabric. This decorated him as their leader.

He was now staring at a large monitor, his eyes contemplative as the sliding door in the far corner of the bridge slid open and closed in steady rhythm. After several cycles of this happened with the various creatures coming and going in steady succession, another being that entered had walked over and joined him.

This being, although slightly shorter in stature bore a simple insignia on the upper left part of his chest, which resembled a barren tree. In this culture, this signified that he was the chief science officer.

“Leader, I have news to report,” the creature greeted his superior with a voice that emerged in a masculine, but hollow like, cadence.

“Yes?” The tall being spoke, his simple word emerging in a similar fashion.

“Our liaison has left the initial point of contact.”

“Meaning?” he turned away from the monitor.

“Meaning, the person whom we have been using to control the climatic circumstances on the earth’s surface has departed from their initial location. Our scientists are in the process of trying to get a fix on the young female,” the scientist responded.

“What would transpire if we lost our fix on the liaison?” the leader asked.

“Specifically, what has already begun to transpire in the current circumstance, the climate that we had controlled would revert back to what it was before our intervention. This essentially means that our experiments would be null and void.”

“Understood,” the response was automatic. “What can you tell me about the liaison?”

“I can only tell you what was in my earlier report. We selected a time period in the planetary evolutionary cycle that is simple and naïve. A younger human is the ideal candidate because the inhabitants would never reach any foregone conclusion that they are the cause of it. This has created for us the most ideal of circumstances.”

The leader nodded before glancing towards the door. “I have read all the reports you have submitted regarding the liaison, but please clarify how it is we have obtained this particular link. The specifics of that were not outlined in your report.”

“The psychic link that exists between the liaison and the subject, whom we obtained after careful observation, is far stronger than any of us anticipated,” the scientist reported. “The male subject is older and much stronger, and the liaison is deemed young and powerless. By using these two individuals, we have manipulated them into a powerful force.”

What is the status of the subject at the present moment?”

“He is alive, but in stasis,” the scientist reported.

“Where is he now?”

“Inside the main laboratory,” the scientist said. “We can bring him out of stasis at any time, but I wouldn’t recommend this as a present course of action. His removal from prolonged sleep could cause long-term damage in the process of making the planet’s surface inhabitable.”

“Why is that?” the leader wanted to know.

“Based on our research, the human mind is a complex machine. It possesses the capability to send out signals across all of time and space. The subject could easily call for assistance, and given the vastness of the universe, I believe wholeheartedly that he would receive the requested assistance.”

The leader took a deep breath and clasped his hands together. “What would happen if the liaison were to vanish from the planet’s surface?”

“The connection between the two would be severed,” the scientist said. “Seeing as the subject has no other associations to the planet, the broken link would render him useless to us.”

“What would you recommend if that were to transpire?”

“It would be deemed necessary to pull the subject out of stasis and discontinue his existence. This would remove all possibilities of using the psychic link as a means in which to trace back to this ship,” the scientist said. “If anyone out there were to become aware of our attempts at colonizing, the result might create serious altercations.”

“Then if the liaison has relocated, then you must return to the science station and make certain that you can find out where she can be located. Once you do so, then you must make certain that under no circumstances can she be permitted to leave the planet’s surface.”

The scientist nodded. “We have already affixed a monitoring beam. If she tries to leave the surface in any way, then she will immediately be teleported to a detaining cell on board this ship.” 

“Very good,” the leader said.

Once the scientist had nodded, he left the control room and made his way down the corridor back in the direction that he had come.

Moments later, he reached the door leading into the science station, opened it, and entered.

The laboratory itself consisted of a strange mix between modern and outdated. All along the perimeters there were desks and work tables, which were situated along three of the four walls. On the fourth were several groups of doors; one leading back out into the corridor, and another, which led to the security station, smaller laboratories, storage areas, as well as a kitchen. In the middle of the large room, there was a life-sized refrigerated container. This presently held the comatose form of a human male.

Upon coming inside, the scientist walked over to the container and stared at the tag, which was placed along one side of it. The words printed on the card carried an outer-worldly linguistic carving. The object was, otherwise covered with icicles.

The scientist reached the door and rested his pointed fingers against the glass that separated him from the individual inside. Appearance wise, the person trapped inside was draped in a gray colored shift, their face matching the color of their clothing. For all practical purposes, they were frozen in time.

“Your brainwaves are not providing us with the connection to the liaison that we require,” he whispered angrily. “Where is she?”

Although not expecting any sort of response to his words, the scientist eventually sighed as a second being approached, this one a female.

“We have located the liaison, Professor,” she reported.

“Very good,” he nodded approvingly. “Where is she?”

“The information that we have obtained is rather obscure,” she said as she consulted a small futuristic tablet that was in her hand. “She momentarily disappeared, only to reappear in another location entirely. We have already started a new experiment in the new location, although this one is comparatively larger and may attract more attention than we would have hoped for.”

“Has the dome been realigned and put into place?” he asked.

“Yes,” she reported. “We should be able to start controlling the climatic forces in the new area in the next five or ten minutes. We concluded that the momentary link breaking had something to do with the abrupt changes, or mode of travel the liaison had taken. We are trying to determine if our actions thus far can prevent the liaison from leaving the planet’s surface a second time.”

“Affix a monitoring beam,” he instructed. “If she tries again, then we shall bring her here for interrogation.”

“Are you certain that that is such a good idea?” the woman asked.

“It is only being done as a precautionary measure,” he said. “We have reason to believe that the first link might have been broken by mistake. Based on our findings, the liaison possesses no means in which to leave the planet’s surface at all. The humans of that time are rather naïve and unsophisticated. Their technology is far inferior to our own.”

“Perhaps, but there are rules regarding conquest,” the woman said. “Have we not broken several of them already? Abducting the subject is considered a high criminal offense in most civilized societies.”

“Do not concern yourself with such petty details. This is about the survival of our own race, so you better not begin quoting galactic rules to me,” he shot back. “We must preserve our people. Every planet in the known galaxy would do the very same; even those earth primitives.”

The woman nodded, but glanced towards the casing where the subject remained in stasis. “It just seems cruel to use these emotional attachments against them.”

“I understand your misgivings,” his voice softened a fraction. “However, if we are as intent on conquest as our leader has indicated, then it is far easier for us to do so when a species is inept at fighting back. It was fortuitous that we selected this time period over any other.”

The female nodded as she looked at the subject who was trapped behind the plate of glass. “But, why did we select this subject and this planet as a point of conquest?”

“Before you began working here as a scientist, we began our study and through it, we recognized the barbarian methods of the human race. They were involved in war and showed very little interest in the activities beyond their simple planet. Later, we discovered that amidst their fighting and malevolence, there existed those who were different. Those, very much like the subject and the liaison. While most of their people were dominated by violence and power struggles, these individuals were different and, yes, quite fascinating.”

“How so?”

“We observed them through rather unconventional means and through that, we decided that we would intervene at some point and use their loyalty to our advantage. Understanding that the subject would not be missed, we acted before he could be destroyed by his malicious pursuers. Upon bringing him here, he believed at first that he had died after being hunted and that we were in his language, ‘gods’. Instead of spending time trying to convince him that he was alive, we decided to place him in stasis and have his thought waves monitored.”

“What happened on the planet’s surface after he was brought here?”

“I am not certain,” he began. “Some accounts portray a man trying to keep the subject on the planet’s surface, while others claim that the humans fled upon first contact. Whatever the case, it was clear to our observers that the humans did not care and they believed the subject to be dead. Instead of trying to convince them otherwise, we enhanced the link between him and the liaison.”

“It is quite a brilliant plan even if the story is rather odd,” the woman remarked. As she was speaking, she approached the frozen case and rested her icy hand against the surface of it, her thoughts filled with a strange sense of melancholy.

Although she did not speak of this, she felt pity towards the handsome man being held captive behind the wall of ice. Turning away from the scientist, she took a deep breath and walked slowly to the other side of the room. She knew that her work was important, perhaps because she had always been told of its significance. After their world had been destroyed, their remaining population was left in about a dozen ships, which were scattered throughout the galaxy. Today, their leader was adamant about the idea that a new world would guarantee the survival of their species. What she was no longer convinced of was whether or not their chosen leader approved of the notion that kidnapping other races was a proper means in which to do so.

As she continued to fulfill her assigned duties, her gaze constantly shifted back to that of the figure trapped inside the container.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

By this time, the Doctor had managed to get Ruth, Martha, and Patty back to the TARDIS. Once Martha and Ruth had entered the craft, the Doctor remained outside with the teenager.

The sky had changed and now appeared similar to what they had seen happening back in Jenkinsville. The temperature had also gone down considerably.

Before she could follow Ruth and Martha inside, Patty wrapped her arms around herself and looked at the Doctor. “Why is all this happening?” she eventually asked, her voice a clear depiction of fear.

The Doctor removed the sonic screwdriver from his inside pocket and held it up, the blue light at the end automatically lighting up. After several seconds, he turned it onto its side and stared at it for several seconds. “It’s the same reading that we had back in Jenkinsville. Patty, we need to get inside the TARDIS right away.” The teenager watched as he pushed the door open before ushering her inside.

Once he had closed the door, he went over to the control panel and started pressing buttons and arranging the settings.

“Where are we going?” Martha asked.

“Away from here, but that will be as soon as I figure out where to plot the next coordinates,” he said as he looked apologetically at Patty and Ruth. “It would seem that you both are now involved in whatever it is that is happening here.”

“What does that mean?” Ruth asked.

“For the time being, it would seem that our best option is for me to stay with you until the danger has passed.”

“What exactly is happening Doctor?” Martha asked.

The Doctor took a deep breath and looked from Ruth, to Martha, and finally to Patty. “The energy readings that I got in Jenkinsville just before we left were exactly the same as what I was getting just now. Over time, they had grown increasingly stronger.”

“Could it be a fool’s echo?” Martha asked.

“No,” the Doctor said shaking his head before his attention centered entirely on Patty. Without speaking, he pulled out the sonic screwdriver once again and went calmly over to the teenager. After waving it over her for several moments, he took a deep breath after checking the readings. “This is all centered on you.”

The teenager swallowed nervously. “I don’t understand.”

“Apparently, you’re rather important to someone out there,” he said as he returned the screwdriver to his pocket and turned to face Martha and Ruth. “Would you mind giving us a few minutes to talk this over?”

“Okay,” Martha said. “Come on Ruth, I’ll show you around.”

“No,” Ruth said stubbornly. “I want to know what’s happening. Doctor, we’ve all asked, but you ain’t telling us nothing.”

“Let me talk to Patty first and then together we can figure out where to go from here,” he said.

The heavyset woman reluctantly nodded, but her gaze remained on the teenager. “Patty Babe, will you be alright?”

The teenager closed her eyes, but after several seconds had passed, she offered an insecure nod.

Accepting this, Ruth followed Martha out of the control room.

Once they were alone the Doctor looked at the teenager and spoke, his voice considerably softer. “She really does care about you, doesn’t she?”

“I guess,” Patty whispered as she looked away.

“You guess?” the Doctor asked with a chuckle. “You’re a funny one, Patty Bergen.”

“So I’ve been told,” she said sadly.

“I suppose now we should try and sort this all out. Then we can find out what they, whoever they are, want from you.”

“I thought we had already sorted everything out.”

“Not if you count being interrupted,” he said. “I’m thinking that maybe we can figure out what is happening with the weather while we talk this through.”

“My problems aren’t as important as the weather,” she mused.

“They are if you have something to do with it,” he said. When she looked at him blankly, he continued speaking. “Do you remember asking me earlier if you had anything to do with what is happening?

“Yes and you said ‘no’,” she said.

“Well, now I’m not so sure about that answer,” he said. “Patty, you said just now that your ‘problems’ weren’t important, but maybe they are connected to the reason the weather is changing like it is.” Without waiting for her to respond, he pulled out the sonic screwdriver. “When I used this earlier to check the anomalies in Jenkinsville and then here, I noticed that after we had been present in both places for some time, this had the exact same readings. The location where they appear to be strongest is with you.”

“B-but, I didn’t do anything,” she whispered, her voice becoming panicky.

“I know you didn’t, but you need to calm down and listen,” he said. “Getting anxious is not going to help matters.”

“I know, but you’re scaring me,” she whispered.

“These are things you need to know,” he said as he rested his hand on her arm. “One of which is that I’m sincerely trying to help you.”

She nodded silently, but continued to wring her hands together nervously.

“Let me see if I can explain this in terms you’ll understand. Somewhere out in space there is someone who has taken a liking to you and now they’re trying to use you as a sort of conduit, or channel.”

“I know what a conduit is, Doctor, I read dictionaries,” she said. “But, it still doesn’t explain why they would need me. I’m just a kid, I’m not that important.”

“Your thoughts are,” he said. “It’s clear that the ones who are doing this actually come from a race or society that knows how to manipulate people by use of thought. What were you thinking about when you first noticed the weather in Jenkinsville changing?”

“Anton, I was thinking about Anton, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary, I think about him all the time,” she confessed. “When I was sitting outside, I was remembering the rainy afternoons when we would sit together and talk. He said that he would be my teacher and I told him that I wanted to be smart and pretty. Do you know what he said after I said that?” Without waiting for him to respond, she continued. “He said ‘you already are’.”

“That meant a great deal to you to have him acknowledge you in such a way, didn’t it?” the Doctor asked.

“Yeah, it did,” she said weakly.

“Were you thinking about anything else at all during the time when the weather was getting colder?” he asked.

“No, I just wanted him to be with me,” she said. “I know it sounds stupid.”

“It doesn’t,” he said emphatically. “Maybe Anton was with you in a way that you didn’t fully realize. In many places throughout the universe, thought is an extremely powerful tool. The question is; how are they using yours as a means of controlling the weather?”

As he was speaking, Patty felt an unconscious shudder curse its way through her. “If this is following me, then won’t the temperature go down in here, too?”

“No,” he said shaking his head, “but whoever is doing this obviously didn’t anticipate you leaving Jenkinsville at all. Whatever technology they are using to manipulate such a link is something we must find out.”

Patty looked at him, her expression laced in fear. “Why couldn’t they have picked you or Martha to do this?”

“Martha and I move around a lot and they wouldn’t be able to get a lock on us. I am guessing that in your time, the notion of moving through time or even extensive travel is rather remote. You come from a time where people generally don’t move around a great deal.”

“I sometimes go to Memphis to see my grandparents,” Patty objected, her words indicative that she did want him to view her as a country bumpkin. “I was sent to reform school in Bolton. I got back a few weeks ago.”

“When was the last time you went to see your grandparents?”

“I guess about nine months ago.”

The Doctor nodded. “That means that it would have been rather easy for them to link themselves to you. The added attention that you received, not just from the authorities, might have also brought you to their attention.”

Patty took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Then all the things that the locals have been saying about me are true. I really am an oddity.”

“I’m not saying that you are at fault for it,” he objected. “You are a girl who has managed to find herself in a very strange and rather bizarre situation is all.”

“You know the people in town aren’t going to buy that. They’re just going to try and find some reason to blame me for making their lives difficult.”

The Doctor took a deep breath as he remembered what he and Martha had overheard back at Ruth’s house. There was a good deal of truth in what Patty had just said. “You know, for what it’s worth, the people who I find the most fascinating are the ones who are very much like you.”

“You’re not just saying that, are you?”

“No, I’m not just saying that,” he said. “You really are quite special and unique. The only trouble is; you stopped believing that.”

“Anton used to tell me that all the time,” she whispered. “Then he left and I guess I forgot.”

“Why?”

“Because, I figured that if I was important then he wouldn’t have left,” she whispered as she clasped her hands together and stared down at her intertwined fingers.

The Doctor took a deep breath as he reached over and touched the teenager’s hands. “In my lifetime, I have parted company with many friends and that’s never easy. Sometimes, a friend leaves because they stand at the threshold of a new and exciting adventure, but there are other times when a friend leaves because they have to. It’s never easy to say good-bye to someone you care deeply for.”

The teenager nodded, but after some moments of silence passed between them, she raised her head until she was looking into the deep brown eyes of the Time Lord. “Can you bring Anton back?” she whispered brokenly.

“No, I can’t,” he said. “I am so very sorry, but there are some things that are simply not within my power.”

“But this is a time machine,” she managed, her emotions emerging in her pain-filled words. “It is possible, isn’t it?”

“Physically yes, it is, but I cannot take you back into your own timeline and change your personal history. If I tried, the results that follow could be catastrophic.”

“I don’t understand,” she sniffed.

“It’s hard for you to understand and equally difficult for me to explain,” he said. “There are rules that I am bound to follow. I cannot actively go in and change your past or future, Patty. The only thing that I can do is observe it as it happens.”

“But, you changed things when you showed up in Jenkinsville and we got to meet,” she objected. “That wouldn’t happen normally, would it?”

“No, but there is something disturbing the general progression of your town and your life, and that is something that I have to step in and correct,” he said as he squeezed her hand gently. “I know that this is not the answer you wanted to hear, but it’s the only one I can give you.”

“Then it’s hopeless, you might as well just take us back to Jenkinsville and leave us there like you planned,” she said trying to sound braver than she felt.

“I didn’t plan on leaving you there and right now doing that would not be the best possible option.”

“What would be the ‘best possible option’?”

“You and Ruth would remain with Martha and me for the time being,” he said. “While you’re here, we can discover your importance in the grand scheme of things.”

“You mean this weather stuff?” She asked.

“Yes.”

The teenager shrugged her shoulders sadly. “Are we still in Little Rock?”

“Yes, I haven’t set in new coordinates yet.”

“So if we’re not going back to Jenkinsville, then where are we going?” She asked softly.

“I have a suspicion that whatever happened to Anton may offer some clarification about what has been happening with you,” he said. “What I’m thinking is perhaps we should go to the specific place where Anton was last seen.”

“To help him?” she asked hopefully.

“No, we cannot get involved if he was destined to die,” he said gently. “I know that you want to, but you must promise me that you won’t.”

“That’s going to be a hard promise to keep,” Patty cried softly. “I don’t know if I can just stand there and just watch him get killed.”

“I know. Just tell me, what was his given name and where was he last seen?”

“Frederick Anton Reiker. The telegram said outside of Buffalo, New York and that he died at Bellevue Hospital on November 12, 1944.”

The Doctor nodded as he got to his feet and extended his hand to her. “Let’s see what we can find out.” Once he felt her accepting his hand, he led her over to a small computer terminal that was on one side of the console.

Patty watched as he began to type, but suddenly he stopped everything he was doing and stared at the monitor before turning and looking at her. “It looks like we’re going to Buffalo.”

“W-what did you find out?” she asked.

Instead of getting an answer, all she heard was the now familiar sounds of the TARDIS’ engines revving up. As it began to move, he turned around. “Hang on.”

“Just tell me, please,” she begged.

“Alright, according to the TARDIS’ databanks, Frederick Anton Reiker was shot; but his body disappeared and he was not seen again. He was never actually a patient at Bellevue Hospital.”

“But the telegram said he died there,” she whispered.

“Not according to this,” The Doctor said shaking his head. “Can you think of any reason why someone might have told you this?”

“I don’t know, maybe to get a confession,” Patty whispered.

The Doctor nodded. “That could be the rationale. But, whatever it was that happened that night, I need you to trust me to find out the truth.”

Patty nodded, but instead of just looking unhappy, she suddenly looked terrified. Her next words somehow confirmed everything that he knew must have been going through her mind. “I do trust you, Doctor, but I’m scared,” she said softly. “It sounds like you’re trying to tell me that Anton might still be alive. I don’t think I could even dare to hope.”

“Then don’t make any assumptions about anything,” he said. “Doing that could pose more harm than good. The possibility might very well exist, but we’re going to have to go there in order to find out the truth.”

She nodded as Martha and Ruth returned to the control room.

As they came inside, Martha looked at the Doctor. “Where are we going?” she asked, “back to Jenkinsville?”

“No, Buffalo, New York,” the Doctor said, “November 12, 1944 to be exact.”

Ruth immediately came over to the teenager and rested her hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright, Baby?”

“I feel a little bit dizzy,” Patty whispered as she felt the TARDIS shifting and she lost her footing. “Where are we now?”

“Inside the time vortex,” the Doctor said; his focus still on the controls. “We should be there in about...”

“…Doctor,” Patty’s voice suddenly interrupted him midsentence and he raised his head to see that the girl was now staring down at her hands. “W-what’s happening to me?”

“She’s disappearing,” Martha shouted out at the same moment, her voice filled with shock and urgently. “Doctor, please you’ve got to do something.”

Patty reached out in an effort to try and grasp onto the person closest to her, but when her hand went through Ruth’s, her cries became even more frantic. “I’m frightened! Doctor, please help me. What is happening?”

In response to her terrified words, the Doctor rounded the console in order to reach her before she had completely faded from view. “Patty!” he called out her name, but by the time he had reached where she had been standing, she had completely vanished.

As her faint sounding cries faded away to nothingness, the Doctor suddenly felt two clenched fists grasping the lapels of his suit jacket and practically shaking him.

“Where’d she go?” Ruth’s terrified voice emerged as her dark brown eyes stared daggers into the Doctor’s surprised face. “You have to tell me where she went.”

“I can’t tell you because I don’t know,” the Doctor whispered. He carefully pulled himself out of her hold before grabbing both of her fists and looking at her through intense brown eyes. “I promise I will find out.”

Ruth looked at him. “You’d better,” she said angrily.

“Where are we going, Doctor?” Martha asked.

Instead of immediately responding to Ruth’s threatening tone, he released her hands before placing his hands own on her shoulders and speaking, his words filled with stubborn determination. “We’re heading to Buffalo just like we planned. It may be the only lead we have to help us find Patty and bring her back safely.”

Ruth continued to stare at where Patty had been standing just prior to her disappearance. “She’s gone…she’s just a baby.”

“We’ll get her back, I promise,” the Doctor vowed.

When she did not respond, he waited for the TARDIS’ engines to cease before he went over to the door and opened it slowly.

Rather than still being daylight outside, he noticed that the sky beyond the police box was black with stars spattering across it. He stepped outside with both Ruth and Martha coming directly behind him.

“Where are we?” Ruth asked. “Is Patty here?”

“Shhhh,” the Doctor hissed as he placed a single finger over his lips and listened. After some moments had passed, he turned around and spoke to the two women, his voice low and forced. “Just wait for a moment and do not let yourselves been seen.”

“Seen by whom?” Martha whispered. “Doctor, we’re in the middle of nowhere.”

“Not as much as you might think,” he whispered. “Just wait.”

As if prompted by his voice, they could suddenly hear the sounds of footsteps approaching in the distance. The crackling of leaves grew louder and louder until it gave way to a man’s heavy breathing and rhythmic footsteps.

Ruth exchanged glances with Martha as the shadowy figure raced past them without so much as stopping. “Could he see us?” she whispered to the Doctor’s companion.

“I’m sure he could,” Martha whispered back, “but chances are he was too terrified to pay us any mind.”

After several more moments, the sounds of dogs barking became louder and the Doctor practically shoved the two women back inside the TARDIS as they raced past. Once they were safely gone, he noticed several men running by without stopping or slowing down.

_Strange, but usually the dogs would grow confused by the scents of strangers,_ he thought. Moments later, the three of them suddenly heard the over excited young voice of one of the pursuers.

“I see him. The dogs have him on the run.”

When one of his older cohorts hushed him, the Doctor turned back around and faced the two women. “I want you both to stay here,” he instructed.

This time, Martha heeded his words and offered a simple nod as several gunshots pierced the air. “Be careful, Doctor.”

He nodded and raced off as Ruth closed her eyes and began to softly pray. “Dear Father in Heaven...”

Martha said nothing; instead she merely stood in the doorway of the TARDIS and watched as he disappeared between the trees. When she looked back at Ruth, it was clear to that the older woman was more worried about Patty than she was about being in the middle of a dangerous situation.

~~~~~

Patty was still crying softly when she opened her eyes several moments later. Much to her overwhelming shock, she realized that she was no longer inside the console room of the TARDIS. Instead, she had materialized inside a small, cold, and unfamiliar place. The room, which resembled a cell, appeared as though it had been carved out of solid ice.

Upon feeling the solidness of her arms beneath her touch, Patty took a deep breath and tried to figure out why it was she had been brought to this place. It did not take a genius to recognize that the Doctor’s assertions had been accurate. Someone had literally plucked her right out of the TARDIS and dropped her there.

“W-where am I?” she whispered under her breath, her brown eyes filled with fright as she tried to take in the room that she was now confined to. She approached what appeared to be a door and hesitantly reached out and touched the icy cold surface of it. “Doctor, p-please come and find me.”

Lowering her head, she backed away from the door and crossed the room, her thoughts focused entirely on the extended dialogues that she had shared with the Doctor. She wondered why it was that someone like him would take such a keen interest in her, while at the same time she tried desperately to remember what it was he had been telling her just prior them entering the time vortex.

Unlike the time when she had been a prisoner of the Arkansas justice system, she knew that now she really was trapped and on her own. She wondered if there would be any means of escape for her. Now that she was in this horrible situation, her grief and sorrow about Anton were momentarily forgotten.

She wrapped her arms around her body and tried to maintain some semblance of warmth as she waited for whatever was to happen. After several moments, she heard a strange sound and raised her head to see the door opening and a strange looking creature entering the room.

Instead of speaking, she regarded the creature through terrified eyes and she backed away until she found herself pressed up against the icy wall in the far corner of the room. Her eyes remained wide, and her hands were crossed over her chest protectively as the creature came closer.

At that moment, the teenager fleetingly took in the physical attributes of it. The first thing she noticed was the simple light colored tunic the creature wore, which extended from their shoulders down to their feet. It was not until the creature spoke that Patty was able to ascertain that the one addressing her was female.

As it raised its arms in a peaceful gesture, it spoke; the words it used were high in pitch and resonance. “Do not be afraid, I mean you no harm.” The words were simple, but hollow as though it was speaking through a tube.

Patty cautiously raised her head and took in even more of the alien’s attributes. She was thin and her skinny limbs resembled branches, which extended out from a treelike body. The hair that domed the creature’s head was a shimmery silver and her exposed skin was a soft white color.

“W-what is this place?” The teenager finally managed to speak, her voice emerging in a terrified stammer. Instead of waiting for a response, she tried once again to back away from the creature.

“Do you have a name?” Patty’s captor asked.

“Yes,” Patty whispered, but instead of providing it, she regarded the woman through eyes that carried a mixture of emotions, all of which lie between trepidation and fright. “Where am I?”

“I cannot tell you,” the woman responded.

“W-where’s the Doctor?”

“I do not know.”

“What do you want from me?”

“I want to help you,” she said simply. “My name is Stiria. Do you have a name?”

“Patty,” the teenager whispered. “If you want to help me, then send me back to where you found me.”

“I’m sorry, but I cannot,” Stiria responded.

Patty grew silent; any words she could possibly have said were literally drowned out by her anger. Instead of speaking of fears and uncertainties, she used these moments to pull herself together and face this creature assertively. She knew that her only hope was to try and address the situation as an adult might. If she showed any sort of weakness, then they would only respond accordingly. She no longer wanted to be treated like a frail child and she was determined to show them that she was tired of people using her connection to Anton as their rationale for hurting her. She had been there and done that with the FBI and now her deeply rooted resentment was coming to a head. The teenager was completely determined to keep her captors from getting the better of her.

At that moment, she remembered what the Doctor had said about thought and decided to center all of hers on him. _Please come and find me, Doctor,_ she thought all the while trying to ignore whatever it was the alien wanted.

For her part, Stiria reached over and with a feather light touch, she brushed one of her hands against the top of one of Patty’s. When a pain-filled scream filled the air, the alien’s eyes widened and she backed away from the girl.

When these sounds eventually faded, she looked at the girl, who still had tears streaming down her cheeks. “Why did you scream?” she demanded.

Patty lowered her head and looked down at the exposed skin of her hand. A small burn mark had appeared in the very spot where she had been touched. “You hurt me,” the teenager whispered crossly as she raised her head.

“I did not intend to harm you,” Stiria finally said.

“I don’t believe you,” Patty whispered as she pressed her uninjured hand against the wound. “You brought me here against my will. How can I even expect you to tell me the truth?”

“Bringing you here was necessary. You must believe that we did not do it with the intention of harming you or your friends.”

“Why should I believe that?” Patty asked. “You said that you wouldn’t hurt me, but you did. If you meant me no harm then why did you kidnap me?”

“Please Patty, I did not know that my touch would bring harm to you,” Stiria raised her hands as a means of demonstrating her innocence.

The teenager hard gaze softened only slightly, but one glance down at her hand was reminder enough that this alien could not be trusted. “What do you want from me?”

“We needed your help and the one that you called the Doctor prevented us from receiving it,” Stiria said.

“You wanted my help, then why didn’t you just ask for it?” she asked. “I know I’m nothing important, but you should have at least asked if I was willing. I have the right to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to your request.”

Stiria shook her head. “You don’t understand, it would not be a request, it would have been a demand. You have proven that you are capable of a great deal more than what you believe. The truth is, our world was destroyed and we needed someone from another world to help us to create a new one.”

Patty raised her head and looked at Stiria. She remembered the words the Doctor had said just before she had appeared in this place, and this made her anger grow. “So it was you. You’re the reason for the weather problems we’ve been having in Jenkinsville. It wasn’t me; it was you all along, wasn’t it?”

“In part,” Stiria admitted, “but you played a significant role in this as well.”

“How?”

“You became our liaison,” she responded as she went over and sat down on the bed. “I know that what we did may not have been right, but when you left the planet’s surface, our connections to it got severed. We had to bring you here to beseech your continued assistance. It is my personal hope that by telling you our story that you might be willing to return to the planet’s surface and in doing so, help us.”

“So the Doctor was right all along, you were using me as a conduit,” Patty whispered. “As long as I was there, everything was fine. When the Doctor brought me into the time vortex, your scheme was hindered. Is that it?”

“You are quite clever, more so than we thought.”

“Oh thank you very much,” Patty responded in very much the same fashion as she often did when speaking condescendingly to her younger sister. This element of sarcasm did not go unnoticed by the alien.

Stiria closed her eyes momentarily before opening them again and speaking, her words soft and laced in sadness. “We truly meant no one any harm.”

“But you did bring harm,” Patty argued. “Do you honestly believe that the people of my world could survive in sub-zero temperatures? We can’t, most of us would freeze to death.”

“That does not matter,” Stiria said.

“But, it does matter; to me,” Patty said. “How can you say you mean me no harm when you start telling me that you intend to use me as a means in which to bring harm my own people?”

“But you hate your people,” Stiria argued.

“I don’t like them, but I don’t want to be the reason for their demise,” Patty shouted. “If they destroy themselves, it’s their problem. I’m not going to carry their annihilation on my shoulders. Why should I help your people when you have proven yourself to be no better then them?”

“But, we require a new home,” Stiria attempted to respond to Patty’s accusations. “Our people cannot survive in warm climates. We must have a place that is cold and habitable for us.”

“Aren’t there other planets that could offer you that?”

“We have no means to reach them.”

“But if this thing that we’re on is a spaceship, then why can’t you just go and find another planet? It sounds like your sole intention is to conquer a world, kill off that society so that you can prolong your own existence,” Patty said, her voice now filled with hostility. “What you are trying to get me to do is contribute to the genocide of a certain race of people. I know about that sort of thing, in our recent history, thousands of people were murdered because of the manner they believed.”

“We have read of your wars, of your overt disregard for others.”

“Not all of us are like that,” Patty argued. “Some of us do care about each other.”

“Strange that someone like you would argue on their behalf,” Stiria said.

“Maybe, but even with your trying to twist my words, you will never convince me to help you,” Patty said.

“Please show some compassion.”

“Why should I?” Patty asked. “You have proven yourself to be no better than those who murdered my people during the war. You ask for my compassion, but you have shown absolutely none. You might receive help when you come to understand what morality really is.”

As she was speaking, the leading scientist entered the room and regarded the girl through critical and chilling eyes. “Such an insignificant creature as yourself will never teach us about morality. This is about survival and you have thwarted our attempts at habitation. What sort of liaison are you?”

Patty looked at the scientist and crossed her arms over her chest. “An unwilling one,” she snapped, her voice emerging much braver than she felt.

The scientist came closer and before his cohort could say anything, he extended his hand and brushed it against the teenager’s exposed cheek. As her skin began to tingle painfully from the touch, Patty could feel the tears catching in her eyes. In lieu of screaming, she bit down hard on her lip as she felt her body unconsciously beginning to tremble. Despite her attempts at keeping a brave stance, she eventually backed away from him as the woman’s words emerged.

“We must refrain from touching her, Professor,” Stiria said. “It will burn her flesh beyond repair.”

The scientist nodded his head and looked at Patty through gleaming eyes. “Then perhaps we do have a way to bargain with this unmanageable child after all.”

With that, he and Stiria left the room and the door was closed firmly behind them.

The teenager raised her hand and felt the scorched skin where the alien had touched her face. The searing pain caused the adrenaline rush to end abruptly and the teenager could feel the hot tears as they continued to stream from beneath her eyes.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Upon leaving the TARDIS, the Doctor started to stealthily move between the trees, while at the same time managing to pull the sonic screwdriver from his pocket. As he held it tightly in his fist, he made his way slowly and carefully, all the while listening to the sounds made by the men and the dogs, which were still echoing loudly in his ears.

After a quick glance back in the direction of the TARDIS and making note that neither Ruth nor Martha were following him, he inched his way closer to where the groups of people were gathered. In a short distance, he could see the beams of light, which emanated from the flashlights that the men were carrying.

Suddenly, and without any warning, a bright beam of light filled the area leaving the Doctor with the only option of covering his eyes to shield them from the unnatural brightness that consumed the area.

Concealing himself between some trees, the Doctor watched as the men began to talk amongst themselves. “What’s happening?” one of them shouted. His question was abruptly shushed by the other men in the area.

“Come on, Bruce, forget the Nazi, let’s get the hell out of here,” a second man hollered and they were either left in the middle of the forest by their cohorts or took off on their own. As they were leaving, the yelping sounds from the dogs could be heard as the men grabbed their pets and practically dragged them out of the area.

As the sounds of yelping dogs and unnerved men vanished along with the beams of their flashlights, the Doctor slowly emerged from his hiding place and he slowly walked towards the nimbus of light. His steps were slow and methodical, and with each one, he realized that the sounds of his footfalls had grown louder and louder. This gave off the distinct impression that the men had all been scared off by the sudden light and the obvious alien presence.

The Doctor proceeded until he came closer to the light. Reaching it, he could see the silhouette of a young man. Saying not a word, the Time Lord approached the man to see that contrary to the ruckus he had witnessed earlier, the youth looked pretty harmless. His arms were dangling like dead weights down alongside his body, his eyes were slightly closed and a pinpoint of light seemed to be centered on his upper left shoulder.

Stepping into the light, the Doctor spotted several beings had come closer until they were surrounding the young man. He watched for several seconds as understanding suddenly washed over him. This man was Patty’s friend, and the aliens who were with him were quite familiar as well. They hailed from a planet that had been destroyed about a century back in a tragic asteroid collision. He recalled his single encounter with them, but this was several hundred years ago, during one of his earlier incarnations. He was fully aware of their reputation throughout space and understood their motives perhaps better than anyone might have suspected.

He turned away with the intention of returning to the TARDIS. He had already seen enough and knew instinctively where and when he was needed. It was time to return to 1945 and set about to rescuing both Patty and Anton.

Before he could get out of the area, one of the beings had spotted him and had momentarily separated itself from the others and was coming towards him. “You hunt this man, do you not?” the alien asked in the form of an inquiry. It seemed clear to the Doctor that this creature had no idea who he was and that was an advantage he intended on utilizing.

“No, I do not,” the Doctor responded with an adamant shake of his head.

“Why are you here if you are not seeking to destroy him?” the creature asked before motioning towards the man who was still surrounded by the light.

“I have no intention of destroying anyone,” the Doctor stated. “However, I should perhaps be raising the very same question with you. Anyone who has an understanding of your race and people would know that you are generally unable to survive in such warm climates as these.”

“We are being protected by the shields that extend outward from our ship,” the being responded.

“Ahhh, I see, and what would your purpose be for taking someone from the surface of this planet?” the Doctor asked. When the creature did not respond, he continued. “I do know that your race is not generally one of conquest and your involvement in this man’s timeline is severely frowned upon. This is not only by the natural laws of time and space, but also in the current timeframe, this planet’s evolution does not deem it evolved enough to have contact with interstellar life.”

“I cannot answer your inquiry,” the creature said. “This man would die if he is left here; he serves this planet no purpose. He would not be missed by its inhabitants.”

Recalling the last conversation he had had with Patty about this very topic, the Doctor took a deep breath. “There is at least one person who would miss his presence, and if one person misses someone then that should be enough. We both know that you are not here to act as mercenaries for this young man, so what is your interest in him?”

“That is of no concern to you.”

“I’m making it my concern.” As the Doctor was speaking, the being started to back away. “If you think you will get away with abducting him, then I will follow you and I will find the answers I seek. So either you can cooperate and tell me what I wish to know, or face the consequences.”

In lieu of a response, the light became brighter as the entire group vanished and the Doctor was left standing alone in the darkened area. They had probably figured that they had escaped, but the Doctor knew where they had gone and he was determined to follow them. His own history and dealings with this race had clinched it. They did not know who he was, but he most certainly knew them.

He started to make his way back in the direction of the TARDIS, but as he walked, he pondered what his next options were going to be.

He had promised Ruth that he would find Patty, and now he knew specifically who he would have to confront in order to get her back. The question of whether or not Ruth should come along on this leg of the journey still plagued his mind.

Just after Patty’s disappearance, Ruth had reacted as any good friend would, and now the Doctor wondered if she would accept the possible dangers if she were to choose to join Martha and him.

His only option at this point was to return and tell the two of them what he had discovered. Through that, he would give Ruth the option of staying or going.

Moments later, he reached the police box and entered. As he walked across the floor, he noticed that the two women were standing next to the console and waiting for him.

“What happened?” they asked, almost at the same instance.

“Anton’s alive, I saw him,” the Doctor said softly. “Somehow, the people who abducted Patty are using the psychic link between the two of them as a means to control the weather in Jenkinsville. When Patty was on the surface there, the weather changed, but when we left and went to Little Rock, that connection was briefly severed. This was why the weather had started to change during the time we were in the larger city. This is what I began to suspect just before Patty had disappeared. After watching Anton disappear in very much the same manner, I realized that my suspicions were accurate.”

“Why didn’t they just try to take her when we were on our way to Little Rock?” Martha asked.

“Because we were on the same time stream, and Patty probably disappeared from their radar only to reappear somewhere else,” the Doctor responded. “By the time we had entered the time vortex, they must have realized that Patty’s disappearance was not accidental. During the time we spent in Little Rock, they must have become wiser and applied a tracking beam to her. This is a very intelligent race, they operate through and logic and science, and although this is not a bad quality, it does show what we are up against.”

“Who are they?” Ruth asked.

“Given what I have seen of this race, they are distant relations of the Cryons. That is a race of people who require extreme cold temperatures in order to stay alive. That is, if they are exposed, even for a second to any form of heat, they will die. Anyway, about a hundred years ago, their planet was destroyed by a massive asteroid. I was there when it happened, and I watched as the people were left stranded inside their spacecrafts and roaming the universe as hermits. After seeing that and then watching both Patty and Anton disappear, I realized that they are probably looking for a planet that would be habitable for them. The problem is; the one they selected is already inhabited.”

“You mean earth?” Ruth asked.

“Yes, and to be more specific, Jenkinsville,” the Doctor replied.

“But Doctor, Jenkinsville might as well be in the tropics, the climate is completely inadequate for them. If they die because of heat like you said, then settling there would completely destroy them,” Martha objected.

“Not if they change the climate,” he said grimly.

“You mean the weather changes?” Martha asked. When the Doctor nodded, she continued. “So what you’re saying is all they are really guilty of is trying to create a new environment in which to live in.”

“Yes.”

“Okay, then why did they resort to kidnapping?”

“That is what we have to find out, Martha,” the Doctor said.

Ruth took a deep breath as she tried to process what had just happened. “If you’re telling the truth, then why didn’t they just settle in Siberia or Canada? Nobody would have bothered them there.”

“They might have. Given my experiences, humans have not always proven the most hospitable,” the Doctor said bluntly.

“Does that give them the right to take over our cities and destroy the population?” Martha asked.

“Good question and the answer is ‘no’,” the Doctor said. “Right now we are at an advantage, we know what they want and through the TARDIS’ computer we’ll be able to find them.”

“You still haven’t answered why. Why would they pick Jenkinsville?” Ruth asked. “They could’ve picked any place, why our home?”

“Perhaps because a place like Jenkinsville would be an ideal settlement for them. Consider the fact that there would be very little for them to do once they had succeeded in changing the climate. There are already houses and shops present, but it’s far enough away from the rest of society that it might not matter. All they would have to do is create a few alterations and boom; they would have an instantly created habitat.”

“Yeah, but Doctor, why couldn’t they have done this in some remote area of Alaska or Canada where there are few or no people?” Martha asked.

“They could have, but I’m guessing that their objective is to get rid of the locals,” he said as he went over to the control panel. “By picking a small town, all they would have to do is section it off. While we were in Little Rock, I turned on the radio, and they said in the weather report that all areas of Arkansas were having nice weather, except for a section of Cross County.”

Ruth nodded, “Jenkinsville is right in the middle of Cross County.”

The Doctor nodded. “It’s a remote place. You don’t see that because you live there, but it’s an ideal location for them because there aren’t very many people already there.”

“But honey, we’re still there.”

“Yes, you’re still there, but for how much longer?” the Doctor asked rationally. “You see, Ruth, we’re not just dealing with a group of beings who want a cold place to live. We’re dealing with an intelligence that knows that if they decided to go to Canada or Alaska, their intentions of conquest would be met with far more resistance.”

“I get it,” Martha abruptly said. “The people in those other places are more susceptible to colder climates. They would have to be used to sub-zero temperatures to live there. The climate changes would mean nothing to them because it’s normal for their area of the world. The people further south wouldn’t be accustomed to the abrupt changes in weather and that would make them vulnerable to things like pneumonia or hypothermia.”

The Doctor nodded. “Precisely, so now we have to figure out why it is they chose Jenkinsville. What is the significance to that particular location that made them go there and not some place else? We just saw Patty disappear from here, and after we arrived in Buffalo, I watched a young man vanishing from planet’s surface in very much the same manner. What do these two individuals share?”

“Love!” Ruth supplied the answer.

“Could human emotion really do that, Doctor?” Martha asked.

“When it’s very strong, of course it can,” he said. “Patty told me earlier that she was thinking about Anton for much of the morning. The more she thought about him, the colder the town became.”

“Yes, but she thinks about him all the time,” Ruth objected. “That makes no difference, or at least it shouldn’t.”

“But it does,” the Doctor said. “If Anton has been under their control for the last six months, then it is possible that they could have devised a way for his brainwaves to synchronize with Patty’s.”

“That’s a bit far-out for me, Baby,” Ruth said honestly.

“Does a species actually have the technology to do this?” Martha asked.

“Many can and some have utilized it,” the Doctor responded.

“What you’re implying is that Patty’s thoughts sort of created all of this.”

“Yes, in a way they did,” he said. “When thought is manipulated in just a precise manner, then it can often create anomalies through the link between the individuals involved.”

“I don’t understand,” Ruth said. “Are you saying that they’re trying to use Patty and Anton’s bond against us?”

The Doctor nodded, “basically, yes and we have to put a stop to it.”

“How can we do that?” Martha asked.

“We have to go to where they are.”

“Why can’t you just bring Patty back here?” Ruth asked.

“I cannot bring anyone back here,” the Doctor said simply. “The only way we can fight this is to go where they are. This is not just about saving Patty and Anton from a terrible situation; this is about saving the entire town of Jenkinsville.” He turned and looked at Ruth. “Before I do anything, I need to know if you’re willing to come with us.”

“I’m here, ain’t I?” The older woman asked.

“Yes, you are, but this isn’t a trip to the market, it could be dangerous,” he said.

“I ain’t gonna leave Patty, Doctor,” Ruth said firmly. “I don’t much care what happens to me, I just want to help Patty get away from them.” She did not add that she was doubtful about whether the Doctor would actually do what he promised if she were to leave. She knew of far too many people who had made promises and then fell back on them for one reason on another and in this particular instance, the risks were far too great.

“Alright, you may come along, but you must follow my instructions while we are there,” he said. Once Ruth had offered a hesitant nod, he began to log in a series of new coordinates and pulled the lever.

Several seconds passed and it felt as though the TARDIS was spinning in circles until the movement stopped and the machine became still.

As the TARDIS became quiet, the Doctor went over and grabbed his soiled overcoat and put it on before turning and looking at his two companions. “Martha, you and Ruth try and find your way to the laboratory. Something tells me that they will be trying to control everything from there.”

“Where are you going?” Ruth asked.

“I’m going to see if I can find Patty. I am guessing that wherever she is being kept, the ones who are in charge of this operation may be close by,” he said as he cautiously opened the door and stepped out into an empty corridor. Once the two women had followed, he closed the door firmly and left them consumed in darkness. The Doctor then pulled a small flashlight from his pocket and turned it on. When the small beam of light could be seen, he began to make his way down along the corridor. “It looks like the TARDIS landed us in the cargo hold. This might buy us a little bit of time, but probably not very much. Follow me, and try to stay together until we get to an area that has more light.”

“Okay,” Martha said. She and Ruth continued to follow the Doctor until they reached a flight of stairs that led them towards the light that was streaming in from the upper decks.

At the landing, the Doctor pointed down another empty hallway. “I’ll go this way, you go that way,” he said. “And whatever you do, be careful.”

Martha nodded and they separated with Ruth tagging along behind Martha.

Now alone, the Doctor started to make his way down the corridor.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Martha and Ruth continued walking along the corridor after they had parted company with the Doctor. Unlike the way things had been in the cargo hold, the hallways seemed to be well lit. Rounding a corner, they took notice of the fact that the walls and ceilings appeared to be constructed entirely from molded ice. Their footsteps on the floor seemed to give off a resounding crunch and it was as though they were walking through a snowy pasture.

As they made their way, the heavyset woman stared through wide eyes before looking over at Martha. “Where are we specifically?” She managed to speak, her voice barely above a whisper.

“The Doctor mentioned earlier that the people were confined to a spacecraft, so this may be one of them,” Martha whispered. “What surprises me is that there doesn’t appear to be anyone around. It’s rather unsettling.”

“Why?” Ruth asked. “I thought finding no people would be a relief.”

“It’s hard to say if it is or isn’t, but let’s see if we can find the lab,” Martha said as they made their way along one of the corridors.

“What’ll we do if we find it?” Ruth asked.

“I’m not sure, but maybe something will come to me when we get there. I know a little bit about computers, so maybe that’ll help,” she said. “Come on, let’s keep going.”

Moments later, they suddenly heard the sounds of a door sliding open and Martha quickly plastered herself against a wall. As she did, she reached out and grabbed hold of Ruth’s sleeve and pulled her against it as well. From there, they watched as several creatures suddenly appeared in the corridor. Clearly not seeing the two strangers, they continued on their way while Martha and Ruth exchanged somewhat nervous glances.

“That’s strange,” Martha whispered once the creatures had rounded the corner at the far end of the hallway and disappeared in the distance.

“What? That we didn’t get caught?” Ruth asked. “I’d say it’s a relief, Baby.”

“In a way it is, but it’s still strange,” Martha said as she pulled a lever that was on the nearest door and was doubly surprised when it gave way. _Unless the door led into a detention cell, then it would have to be open,_ she thought. _Otherwise, it would be like a delivery truck locking its doors while parked inside the company’s garage._

“Come in here, Ruth,” she whispered as they slipped quietly inside and the door slid closed behind them.

At the closed door, they stood with their backs facing the room’s interior. Seconds later, they could hear a distinctive sound that indicated that they were not alone. Upon turning around, they discovered that instead of entering an empty room, this one was occupied by an individual creature. It was seated at what looked to be a desk and appeared hard at work. They listened for several moments and could only hear the scratching sounds of a writing utensil across a blank piece of paper. Otherwise, the creature seemed oblivious to the fact that two women had just entered.

Martha cautiously approached the creature’s unsuspecting back.

Just before she reached it, the being abruptly stood up and turned around. As it did, it took in the two strangers through a pair of coal-colored eyes. For several moments, the three of them stood staring at one another until the silence became too awkward for all of them and the creature eventually spoke. “How did you get in here?” The demand emerged in a masculine cadence.

Martha crossed her arms and regarded him confrontationally. “We’re looking for our friend.”

The being approached the two women and extended one of its long treelike arms towards them. Just before initiating contact, it abruptly pulled it back and spoke. “You’re human?”

“Yes,” Martha replied.

“This is impossible,” he began. “How did you get on board this ship?”

“We came with a friend who sort of specializes in the impossible,” Martha said.

“This is truly amazing, I have only seen one human in my life, and now you are two.”

Martha smiled slightly, but looked into the eyes of the alien. “Can you help us?”

“I do not see how I could,” he said. “I really should report you.”

“Why would you?” The younger woman asked. “We’ve done nothing to harm anyone here. We’re only here to search for our friend.”

For her part, Ruth remained silent but watched as Martha conversed with the alien. For someone who was as young as the Doctor’s companion, it definitely felt as though Martha knew and understood the notion of conversing with such creatures on a daily basis. The glaring reality that humanity was not the only species in the universe was something that Ruth would have to not only accept, but keep to herself if, or when, she ever returned home. This knowledge left her feeling a bit humbled.

A silent shudder cursed through her body at the realization that his place was where Patty was being held prisoner.

“Why does that one not speak?” the alien was asking. “Does she know how?”

“Of course, I know how,” Ruth said as her anger boiled over. “I just don’t know what to say to someone who has stolen a child.”

Martha nodded as she calmly addressed Ruth’s concerns. “Our friend is a young girl and she has been brought here against her will.”

“But I can assure you that my people would never commit such a terrible crime,” he objected.

“I’m sure you’d also say that you won’t ever freeze an entire town, neither,” Ruth said snappishly. “But, you did.”

Martha could see the fear in the older woman’s face and decided to address her concerns straight on. “Were you aware that this woman’s home town was frozen solid through what we believe to be a form of coercion?”

The creature shook his head. “I cannot imagine. We were told that we would be brought to a new settlement that had been prepared for us. We have lived on this ship for many seasons and have grown weary of living in such a confined environment. Our leader has assured us that we would be settling on a new world very soon.”

“But, you don’t know the specifics about it, do you?” Martha asked.

“No, I do not,” he responded. “I can assure you that there is no validity to your friend’s accusations.”

“They ain’t accusations, they’re the truth,” Ruth said.

Martha looked at Ruth before turning and regarding the alien. “She’s right. I’ve been there and I’ve seen it. An entire town has been forced into a deep freeze in the middle of summer. The truth is; the people of Jenkinsville are not accustomed to the rapid decrease in temperature, which they are being subjected to. We have to do something about it before they all succumb to hypothermia.”

“I can do nothing, I’m afraid,” he said sadly. “I am nothing more than a teacher of our young. I am called Heirom.”

“I’m Martha Jones, and this is Ruth…” her voice trailed off when she realized that she did not yet know Ruth’s surname.

“…Hughes,” Ruth supplied.

“You’re a teacher?” Martha asked. When he nodded, she continued. “I think I understand now. You seemed rather surprised when I mentioned what was happening. I can only conclude that you have intentionally been left out of knowing what your people are doing.”

Heirom shook his head. “I cannot imagine us committing such a deplorable act, no matter the extent of our people’s desperation. Please understand, we must find a new home, otherwise we will perish.”

Ruth looked at him and then at Martha. “Perish?” she whispered.

“Yes,” he said. “We are in a terrible situation. Our leaders have assured us that we would be taken to a sanctuary within the next hours, but something must have gone wrong because we are now being forced to wait for our shuttle to the surface.”

Martha looked at Heirom. “We want to help, but you need to help us in return. How can we find our friend? Her name is Patty, and she’s a thirteen-year-old human girl. Where would your people bring someone like her?”

“I suspect that it would be a detention cell,” he responded as the door suddenly burst open and three aliens barged into the room and surrounded them.

“Don’t move and keep your hands where we can see them,” the commander of the group demanded. “Heirom, what is the meaning of you consorting with these creatures?”

“I am a teacher, Sirian, it is a part of my profession to learn about alien races,” Heirom responded as he looked sadly at Martha. It was apparent that he was not fully aware of how the authorities had discovered the presence of the two strangers.

“He did nothing wrong,” Martha said. “We merely asked him about a friend of ours.”

“Be silent!” Sirian commanded.

Martha did not respond, instead she looked at Ruth, who was now staring wide-eyed at the three new arrivals. “How did you know we were here?”

“Do you think that we would not know the activities on our ship? We have known of your presence since you arrived,” the commander responded before turning and speaking to his two cohorts. “Do not touch them unless they make a foolish attempt to escape,” he ordered as he looked at Martha and Ruth. “If we touch you, your skin will burn like fire. I suggest that you both cooperate and not make any wrong moves otherwise you will suffer the consequences. Is that understood?”

“But Commander, they wish to help us,” Heirom objected.

“We do not require their help. They are stowaways and must be dealt with in short order,” the commander responded as he looked at both Ruth and Martha. “You are to come with us; slowly.”

The two women cast an uneasy glance towards Heirom before reluctantly following the leader and one of the nameless aliens out of the room. As they walked, Martha glanced behind them and could see that the third alien has started to follow them as well; which indicated that these beings were obviously prepared for anything.

“Do you think they will take us to Patty?” Ruth whispered to the younger woman.

“I hope so, but I’m doubtful,” Martha responded in kind. “My guess is they will keep us separated.”

What the guards did not notice was that Heirom had slipped silently from the room and was making his way in the opposite direction that they were going in.

Martha watched as the teacher disappeared down the corridor, and this left her to wonder if they had found an ally on this ship or if they were once again on their own. How would the Doctor be able to find them if he did not know that they had been captured?


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

At the same time, the Doctor was making his way along a narrow corridor. He stopped every so often and turned around before continuing on his way. The hallways were quiet, which was rather unnerving for the Time Lord. Quiet tended to imply that something was on the verge of happening, something that oftentimes resembled an ambush.

Being caught off guard was something the Doctor was familiar with, but that did not mean he necessarily liked it. Opting to remaining silent, he stealthily made his way down the corridor, ducking every so often into doorways to make certain he was not being followed.

He wondered if Martha and Ruth had been captured yet, but figured that they would handle themselves just fine if it did come to pass. Martha was exceptionally smart and had proven to be quite good at dodging trouble. Although Ruth seemed emotionally charged, she did possess the ability at keeping a level head, even when faced with a challenge. Of course, given that Patty was in danger, the Doctor was not quite certain as to what extent Ruth’s ability would hold out.

It was not yet clear to him if he and his companions had found themselves among malevolent or benign creatures. They had abducted Patty and Anton, but that could have been an act of desperation and nothing more. He was anxious to find out what was behind their motives, but was unwilling to give anyone the benefit of the doubt until he found Patty and ascertained that she had remained unharmed.

Moments later, he reached a doorway and could make out the sounds of what appeared to be a young girl crying. Instinctively, he backed up against a wall, which was just to the right of the doorway where the sounds had originated. There he waited until two beings emerged from the room.

“She refuses to assist us, Professor,” the first being said in a feminine sounding voice.

“Coercion is the only means of persuasion that we have left,” the male responded, his voice laced in indignation. “I am quickly losing my patience with these humans. If we cannot get this stubborn girl to cooperate, then we will be forced to inhabit a different world. The leader will not take kindly to this option.”

“I understand your arguments, Professor, but we did take her away from her own people. We cannot very well expect her to cooperate fully with our intentions. Most species would behave as indignantly as she has been. Specifically, if they were being forced to capitulate,” the woman said.

The Doctor watched as they made their way down the corridor and away from where he was hiding. _This is proving rather easy, almost too easy,_ he thought as they rounded a corner and disappeared in the distance.

Reaching for the handle leading into the room that they had just exited, he pressed down on it, but it did not budge. _I expected that,_ he thought as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and disengaged the lock before slipping quietly inside.

Once inside the room, he quietly closed the door, but listened for several moments before turning back around and taking in the small cell-like dwelling. It was a barren place, with a small door at the other end, which he guessed was a lavatory. Just as he had suspected, there were no windows; just a long metal like object that resembled a bed. This was placed along one of the back walls. In another corner, he could see that Patty was seated up against the wall, her body hunched over her knees and her face buried in her lap. It looked very much as it did when she had been seated next to the TARDIS during their initial encounter.

This time, her body was unconsciously trembling, and she was doing nothing to hide the emotions that had overcome her.

“I would have thought that you would be searching for a way out of here, not crying in the corner,” he said with a relieved smile.

The girl raised her head when her brown eyes locked with his; she managed to get to her feet as a relieved smile tugged at her lips. “Doctor, oh thank God you’re here.” Without warning, she stumbled into his arms and gave him a quick embrace. After several seconds had passed, she backed away and looked up at him. “How did you find me?”

“I’ll tell you later. Are you all right?” he asked.

“I think so,” she whispered. “I’m a little scared, but I’m better now that you’re here.”

“Come on, let’s get you out of here,” he said.

“But, we can’t leave,” Patty objected. “They want to use me to hurt the people in Jenkinsville. I don’t like them all that much, but I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“I know you don’t,” he said. “But you do know that you can’t stay in here.”

“I know that, but where can we go?” she asked. “If we leave the ship, I’m guessing they’ll bring me back just like they did before.”

“I thought of that and what I think our best option may be to stay in this vicinity but not leave the ship. If one of us can get to the laboratory, maybe we can disengage the link they have on you and we can make good on your escape,” he said as he reached for her hand. “I’ve already sent Ruth and Martha there, but I figure that if they didn’t get captured then it would be a good place to meet them.”

She accepted his hand, but what she did not expect was for him to raise her own and inspect it closely. When he saw the burn marks on the top of her hand, his expression darkened. “What happened?” he asked.

Patty closed her eyes and shook her head. “Nothing, I just burned my hand.”

“You didn’t have this mark on your hand before,” he said as he released her hand. With both hands, he gently turned her towards him. “Patty, look at me.” When she did not heed his instructions, he took her face in his hands and tipped it up so that he could see the injuries that her face had sustained.

As she felt his piercing gaze on her, Patty was overcome with a feeling of shame and humiliation. It was the same emotions she had when Anton had witnessed her being beaten mercilessly by her father a year ago. _Would the Doctor view me as being unworthy or deserving of such horrific treatment?_ she asked herself. Instead of speaking, she felt a stray tear streaming from beneath one of her eyes.

The Doctor reached over and lightly brushed the moisture away before lightly touching the injured skin. “Tell me what happened,” he finally spoke; his voice unusually soft. “Tell me everything.”

“It’s nothing,” she whispered.

“It’s anything but ‘nothing’. You have to tell me what happened after you were brought here. If for no other reason, but to prevent someone else from getting hurt in the same way,” he said firmly. “Now is not the time to wallow in self-pity or drown in teenage pride.”

“I wasn’t trying to do that,” she said indignantly.

“Then tell me what happened after you came here,” he said patiently.

She lowered her head and nodded. “When I opened my eyes, I was here in this room and this woman came in. We talked for a few minutes and then she touched my hand and it hurt. It was like touching dry ice. Does that make any sense?” When the Doctor nodded, she continued. “Afterwards, she seemed very apologetic. It was like she didn’t know that that would happen.”

“And did she also touch your face?”

“No, it wasn’t her,” Patty said. “A few minutes later, this other guy came in and when she told him that their touch hurt, he decided to try it. He touched my face and said that that information would be useful to get me to do whatever they wanted. That’s why I was crying when you came in. It wasn’t just because I was scared, but because it hurt.”

“In other words, he threatened to torture you if you didn’t capitulate,” the Doctor said grimly.

Patty nodded numbly, “pretty much. I mean; they want genocide…”

The Doctor nodded as he removed his sonic screwdriver from his coat pocket and opened the cell door before peering out into the hallway. Seeing that the corridor was now empty, he motioned for her to follow him.

Once they had cleared the doorway, Patty closed the door behind them. “I thought maybe they would think I was still inside,” she said.

“Smart move,” he said as he reengaged the lock. “That should confuse them. Come along now, but try to stay as quiet as you can.”

“Where are we going?” She whispered.

“I’m going to take you back to the TARDIS and then I want to speak with whoever’s in charge around here,” he said. “After seeing what they did to you, I have a few choice words to tell them.”

As they made their way, Patty realized how it was that he had been able to find her as quickly as he had done back in Little Rock. He was using the very same tactics that she had often used to get away from threatening adults.

They reached the end of the corridor and descended the stairs that led back into the cargo hold. When they reached the landing, he could see the TARDIS in the distance. “You’ll be safe inside,” he said motioning towards the blue colored police box. “No one can get inside without a key and I’m the only one who has one.”

“But, I want to stay with you,” Patty whispered. “I want to know why they did this to me. I won’t ever find out anything if I run away and hide.”

The Doctor looked at her, “are you certain?”

Patty nodded. “Yeah, I know that there are some things that you can’t protect me from. Besides, if Anton’s here like you said earlier, then I would be ready to give my life to help him again.”

“What makes you so certain that you would be able to help him?” he asked.

“I don’t know, it’s just a strange feeling I have,” she said. “Even though I’m really scared, I noticed that my feelings about him got much stronger after I got here. Does that make any sense?”

“Perhaps more sense than you think,” he said as he patted her shoulder gently. “Alright, then let’s get ourselves to that lab and see if we can find the Frankenstein behind this monster.”

Agreeing, Patty started to follow him back up the stairs and down the corridor.

~~~~~

At that moment, Martha and Ruth were being led by the guards. Every so often one of the two women would turn around and make note that the third guard was still several paces behind them.

“Where are you taking us?” Martha finally asked no one in particular.

“Silence!” Sirian shouted as he turned around. “You will be interrogated by our leader and we will make certain that none of you will thwart our plans of conquest.”

The younger woman sighed but continued to walk. “Why would you want to invade Jenkinsville, Arkansas?” she asked. “Wouldn’t you do better trying to invade London or New York City?”

“I said be silent!” Sirian stopped walking but turned around and came closer to her. He raised his hand as though intending on touching Martha, but stopped a fraction of an inch from her cheek.

“Why?” Ruth finally found her voice and asked. “I knows of people like you. They use brutality to force their will on others. There ain’t nothing in this here place that distinguishes you from a monster.”

Sirian turned and looked into the dark eyes of the older woman before shifting his focus back to Martha. “Keep her silent,” he bellowed.

Martha rested her hand on Ruth’s shoulder. “Try to stay calm Ruth; the Doctor will help us, try not to worry.”

“I ain’t worried, Baby, I’m angry,” Ruth muttered. “They ain’t no better than those who take their anger out on a little girl.”

Martha nodded. “I know, let’s just try and cooperate and not get into anymore rows with them.”

“What are you saying?” Sirian demanded.

“I’m telling my friend that we should cooperate with you and not cause you anymore trouble,” Martha said softly. “You did, after all, demand that I keep her silent.”

Satisfied with this response, the commander turned back around.

At that moment, something had caught Ruth’s attention and she nudged Martha’s arm. When the younger woman turned towards her, she motioned with her right index finger, which was discreetly pointing outward to the left.

Martha turned her head slightly and relief washed over her when she noticed that Heirom was now lurking in a nearby doorway and had overheard the words that the commanding guard had been saying.

This confirmed to the teacher that the two strangers had been speaking the truth before their capture. His race was not on a mission of peace, they were set on conquest and that went against everything he believed in. _How could this have happened?_ He asked himself. _Worse still, how could I have taken part and enabled those two brave women to be apprehended?_

As his gaze locked with Martha’s, three words suddenly filtered into his conscience: ‘Find the Doctor’. He had overheard the younger of the two women mentioning the Doctor to her friend; but now these instructions were cursing through his own mind. He raised his head and offered a slow nod as he concealed himself in the doorway and watched as the two women were being led further down the hallway.

Martha looked at Ruth and smiled weakly, but said nothing. She was confident that Heirom would do whatever was in his power to help them. Of course, she would have to keep that bit of information to herself. The last thing she wanted to do was betray someone who had the potential of becoming a friend and ally to them.


End file.
